Court Confirms Rights for Bloggers

The Politics and Technology Blog (an excellent blog published by Kari Chisolm of Blue Oregon) reports that a California appeals court has ruled that bloggers do indeed have the same rights as "traditional" print and broadcast journalists, including the California shield law which prevents journalists from being forced to disclose their sources.

This should be a shot in the arm to blogs which provide a much necessary service of presenting often raw and unfiltered news from the streets and often have the same or even better access to newsmakers than traditional media. Know that bloggers won't be forced to reveal sources, confidential informants can rest assured passing on important information that needs to see the light of sunshine.

And the blogger is really no different than the journalist of the early days of printing, when anyone who could get a hold of a press could get their ideas and information out to the masses. Thanks to modern technology, important details can get out to the public without censorship by a corporate media hierarchy and without anywhere near the capital investment one would need to make to come even close to starting a newspaper, radio station, television network, etc.

We've learned here the blogging world isn't always pretty and doesn't always get it right. Neither does the elite media. Blogging is just yet another tool for citizens to exercise in our quest for democracy.