Shellee Hale

In recent weeks, the debate over whether bloggers should receive the same legal protection as journalists has intensified.

After Gizmodo tech blogger Jason Chen wrote about a stolen next generation iPhone, police searched his home and seized his computers. Under state and federal law, police can’t issue a search warrant to confiscate the property of a journalist. Gizmodo’s parent company, Gawker Media, demanded the computers be returned, saying Chen is a journalist and qualifies for legal protection. The company is considering filing a lawsuit against police.

Closer to home, a Bellevue entrepreneur, blogger, and mother of four is battling a recent court decision that denied her protection under journalism’s shield law. The New Jersey appellate court ruled last week that Shellee Hale is not a journalist. The decision means Hale can’t protect a confidential source and is not protected from a current slander lawsuit filed against her.

Hale, speaking from her Bellevue office, said she ran into trouble when she started posting comments and blogging about Too Much Media LLC, which provides software for porn sites.

According to Hale, she began investigating the online porn industry after she started her own cyber security business. Concerned that some porn sites might be misrepresenting themselves, Hale began talking to industry sources and taking notes. She posted her research on her own web site and on Oprano.com, an online forum for the porn industry. Among her posts was an item saying Too Much Media had threatened someone. Hale would not reveal the source for the post.

Too Much Media took Hale to court. Since they operate out of New Jersey, they sued Hale for defamation in that state and asked Hale to reveal her source.

With the recent appellate court ruling, Hale wonders if she may be forced to give up her source. She believes that if she does so, Too Much Media will abandon the slander lawsuit against her.

Regardless of what avenue Too Much Media will now pursue, Hale believes the New Jersey court erred in saying she was not a journalist. She belongs to the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Writers Union. She interviewed people and compiled detailed notes for her online porn investigation, and intended to turn her findings into a larger piece. Hale recognizes she does not work for a credited news organization, but says that shouldn’t mean she loses status as a journalist.

“I consider what I worked on journalism,” Hale said. “Absolutely I should have protection.”

Under Hale’s reasoning, anyone blogging about issues of public concern or producing news reports should be considered journalists.

The Gizmodo case and the Hale case are both similar and unique. Both Chen and Hale wrote about news items for online web sites. But Chen works for a tech blog company, Gawker Media, while Hale operates independently.
Both cases raise the question of whether any blogger producing online content should receive the protection awarded to journalists. Or, should only bloggers working for a credited news organization receive that legal status? And who decides what sites are “credited”? Aren’t some independent bloggers as credible and reliable as mainstream journalists these days? What do you think?

NOTE: We at the Washington News Council have proposed a “TAO of Journalism” pledge and seal, hoping it might provide a partial solution. Traditional journalists, citizen journalists, bloggers, hyperlocal neighborhood journalists, TV/radio broadcasters, or anyone else practicing journalism in the broadest sense of the word may voluntarily post the trademarked TAO seal on their websites while pledging to be Transparent, Accountable and Open. We see the TAO as one way of helping the public decide who is practicing trustworthy journalism. Want to take the pledge? See www.taoofjournalism.org for more details.