Though it has no legal application in Missouri, where there is still no Shield Law for journalist, it was still heartening to read of a California appellate court decision in favor of online journalists.
On Friday, the appellate panel reversed a trial court ruling that bloggers were not journalists and therefore were not protected by California's Shield Law and had to reveal the source of their information on their writings about inner workings of Apple.
To quote from the New York Times article:
In its ruling, the appeals court said online and offline journalists are equally protected under the First Amendment. "We can think of no workable test or principle that would distinguish 'legitimate' from 'illegitimate' news," the opinion states. "Any attempt by courts to draw such a distinction would imperil a fundamental purpose of the First Amendment."
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