4 ms·

I think a fundamental issue is that journalists want to be a protected class with special rights that are unavailable to the average citizen. A journalist shoul

I think a fundamental issue is that journalists want to be a protected class with special rights that are unavailable to the average citizen. A journalist should have exactly the same rights as the average citizen. Thus, if the laws are not amenable to an average citizen looking into the affairs of their government, fix the laws, don't try to carve out exceptions for journalists.

pan69 7y ago
> I think a fundamental issue is that journalists want to be a protected class No. Goverment and polictians want to be a protected class.
ratsmack 7y ago
And the next question is... who determines who is or is not a journalist. I don't believe there is a definitive requirement that is used to differentiates between a blogger and someone that writes for the NYT.
- boomboomsubban 7y ago
  Everyone has the right to a free press, anybody trying to collect and transmit news to the public should be considered a journalist.
  - ddingus 7y ago
    This, exactly. The only reason we are having these discussions is massive consolidation in media, which has diluted journalism to mere access models.
- pvaldes 7y ago
  > Who determines who is or is not a journalist? Whom pay for the message. Politics are strongly infiltrated in journalism. Often to the point of being undistinguishable.
1MachineElf 7y ago
>A journalist should have exactly the same rights as the average citizen. It should be the other way around: The average citizen should have exactly the same rights as a journalist. If it were so, then public animosity towards the media would dwindle.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 7y ago
  I think we are in violent agreement.
- izzydata 7y ago
  I believe that was implied.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
Ididntdothis 7y ago
It’s a very tricky issue. Investigative journalism plays an important role keeping governments accountable but technically they often do illegal stuff or get information from people who did illegal stuff. Making a law around that will be pretty difficult if you want governments to keep the right to classify things.
- 1_anon_coward 7y ago
  > if you want governments to keep the right to classify things I want governments to keep things classified. Leaks should be automatically declassified: the contents are going to be in the public domain one way or another, whether governments like it or not. The illegal stuff leakers do is the morally ambiguous part. Everything else is already fine and I think the law should reflect that.

pan69 7y ago

> I think a fundamental issue is that journalists want to be a protected class No. Goverment and polictians want to be a protected class.

ratsmack 7y ago

And the next question is... who determines who is or is not a journalist. I don't believe there is a definitive requirement that is used to differentiates between a blogger and someone that writes for the NYT.

boomboomsubban 7y ago
Everyone has the right to a free press, anybody trying to collect and transmit news to the public should be considered a journalist.
- ddingus 7y ago
  This, exactly. The only reason we are having these discussions is massive consolidation in media, which has diluted journalism to mere access models.
pvaldes 7y ago
> Who determines who is or is not a journalist? Whom pay for the message. Politics are strongly infiltrated in journalism. Often to the point of being undistinguishable.

1MachineElf 7y ago

>A journalist should have exactly the same rights as the average citizen. It should be the other way around: The average citizen should have exactly the same rights as a journalist. If it were so, then public animosity towards the media would dwindle.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 7y ago
I think we are in violent agreement.
izzydata 7y ago
I believe that was implied.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

Ididntdothis 7y ago

It’s a very tricky issue. Investigative journalism plays an important role keeping governments accountable but technically they often do illegal stuff or get information from people who did illegal stuff. Making a law around that will be pretty difficult if you want governments to keep the right to classify things.

1_anon_coward 7y ago
> if you want governments to keep the right to classify things I want governments to keep things classified. Leaks should be automatically declassified: the contents are going to be in the public domain one way or another, whether governments like it or not. The illegal stuff leakers do is the morally ambiguous part. Everything else is already fine and I think the law should reflect that.