DeepseekerADS
Gold Member
- Mar 3, 2013
- 14,880
- 21,725
- Detector(s) used
- CTX, Excal II, EQ800, Fisher 1260X, Tesoro Royal Sabre, Tejon, Garrett ADSIII, Carrot, Stealth 920iX, Keene A52
- Primary Interest:
- Other
Senate Amendment Would Give DOJ Power to Determine Who Is a 'Journalist'
What is the meaning of this
Means they can effectively shut down any news site they disagree with...... Complete government control of media
Senate Amendment Would Give DOJ Power to Determine Who Is a 'Journalist'
An amendment is moving through the Senate Judiciary Committee that would essentially allow the government to determine who is a journalist for purposes of legal protection of sources. For purposes of protecting a source, a âjournalistâ under law would be anyone who:
â˘Works or worked for âan entity or service that disseminates news or information by means of newspaper; nonfiction book; wire service; news agency; news website, mobile application or other news or information serviceâŚnews program; magazine or other periodicalâŚor through television or radio broadcastâŚâ These people would have to have the âprimary intent to investigate events and procure material in order to disseminate to the public news or information.â Opinion journalists might not be covered.
â˘Bloggers and citizen journalists â citizens who commit acts of journalists without working for such an outlet â would not be covered, unless it was determined that âat the inception of the process of gathering the news or information sought, had the primary intent to investigate issues or events and procure material in order to disseminate to the public news or information.â In other words, the government â the Department of Justice â would now determine whether primary intent was news distribution or political concerns.
â˘Those explicitly excluded from protection include those âwhose principal function, as demonstrated by the totality of such person or entityâs work, is to publish primary source documents that have been disclosed to such person or entity without authorization.â Glenn Greenwald, please contact your lawyer.
Who would decide who fell within these guidelines? A âjudge of the United Statesâ can âexercise discretion to avail the persons of the protections of this Act.â But in the first instance, the DOJ would have the discretion to determine whether a person is a âjournalistâ for purposes of the law. Instead of focusing on acts of journalism, the law would identify people by employment status.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said that it should not matter to citizen journalists if new protections extended to a special class of journalists created by the government, since the First Amendment does not grant any right to protect sources in the first place. âWhen weâre discussing the issue of adding a privilege, the issue of taking away someoneâs First Amendment rights just isnât engagedâŚ.All weâre doing is adding privilege to existing First Amendment rights, so there is, logically, zero First Amendment threat out of this,â said Whitehouse, ignoring the fact that a massive institutional advantage would be handed to approved government outlets, thereby perverting the entire system of a free press.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) launched into the proposed bill, which he said could âhave the effect of excluding certain persons from enjoying the added First Amendment protections the bill would provide.â Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) agreed, stating, âEssentially as I understand this amendment, it protects what I would characterize as the âcorporate media.ââŚBut it leaves out citizen bloggersâŚ.I donât think any protection should treat citizen bloggers who are meeting the underlying test of being primarily engaged in gathering news to report it I donât think they should be excluded because they donât happen to work for a media corporation.â He continued:
It strikes me that we are on dangerous territory if we are drawing distinctions that are treating some engaged in the process of reporting and journalism better than others. If we are advantaging those who happen to receive a paycheck from a corporate media entity over those who happen to be citizensâŚ.I for one would have deep troubles with legislation from Congress saying âwe will grant special privileges if you happen to work for a corporate media interestââŚ.It seems to me the First Amendment protects the activity, not the employment status of the person engaging in it.
What is the meaning of this
Means they can effectively shut down any news site they disagree with...... Complete government control of mediaSenate Amendment Would Give DOJ Power to Determine Who Is a 'Journalist'
An amendment is moving through the Senate Judiciary Committee that would essentially allow the government to determine who is a journalist for purposes of legal protection of sources. For purposes of protecting a source, a âjournalistâ under law would be anyone who:
â˘Works or worked for âan entity or service that disseminates news or information by means of newspaper; nonfiction book; wire service; news agency; news website, mobile application or other news or information serviceâŚnews program; magazine or other periodicalâŚor through television or radio broadcastâŚâ These people would have to have the âprimary intent to investigate events and procure material in order to disseminate to the public news or information.â Opinion journalists might not be covered.
â˘Bloggers and citizen journalists â citizens who commit acts of journalists without working for such an outlet â would not be covered, unless it was determined that âat the inception of the process of gathering the news or information sought, had the primary intent to investigate issues or events and procure material in order to disseminate to the public news or information.â In other words, the government â the Department of Justice â would now determine whether primary intent was news distribution or political concerns.
â˘Those explicitly excluded from protection include those âwhose principal function, as demonstrated by the totality of such person or entityâs work, is to publish primary source documents that have been disclosed to such person or entity without authorization.â Glenn Greenwald, please contact your lawyer.
Who would decide who fell within these guidelines? A âjudge of the United Statesâ can âexercise discretion to avail the persons of the protections of this Act.â But in the first instance, the DOJ would have the discretion to determine whether a person is a âjournalistâ for purposes of the law. Instead of focusing on acts of journalism, the law would identify people by employment status.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said that it should not matter to citizen journalists if new protections extended to a special class of journalists created by the government, since the First Amendment does not grant any right to protect sources in the first place. âWhen weâre discussing the issue of adding a privilege, the issue of taking away someoneâs First Amendment rights just isnât engagedâŚ.All weâre doing is adding privilege to existing First Amendment rights, so there is, logically, zero First Amendment threat out of this,â said Whitehouse, ignoring the fact that a massive institutional advantage would be handed to approved government outlets, thereby perverting the entire system of a free press.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) launched into the proposed bill, which he said could âhave the effect of excluding certain persons from enjoying the added First Amendment protections the bill would provide.â Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) agreed, stating, âEssentially as I understand this amendment, it protects what I would characterize as the âcorporate media.ââŚBut it leaves out citizen bloggersâŚ.I donât think any protection should treat citizen bloggers who are meeting the underlying test of being primarily engaged in gathering news to report it I donât think they should be excluded because they donât happen to work for a media corporation.â He continued:
It strikes me that we are on dangerous territory if we are drawing distinctions that are treating some engaged in the process of reporting and journalism better than others. If we are advantaging those who happen to receive a paycheck from a corporate media entity over those who happen to be citizensâŚ.I for one would have deep troubles with legislation from Congress saying âwe will grant special privileges if you happen to work for a corporate media interestââŚ.It seems to me the First Amendment protects the activity, not the employment status of the person engaging in it.
