Moreover, changes in technology and society have made the lines between private citizen and journalist exceedingly difficult to draw. The proliferation of electronic devices with video-recording capability means that many of our images of current events come from bystanders with a ready cell phone or digital camera rather than a traditional film crew, and news stories are now just as likely to be broken by a blogger at her computer as a reporter at a major newspaper. Such developments make clear why the news-gathering protections of the First Amendment cannot turn on professional credentials or status.

via Universal Hub.

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2 Comments

  1. This is very helpful, and should help keep the police and other armed personnel of the “authorities” that up to this time, generally took pics and videos of the alleged criminal whom they were arresting. Now the tables have turned…(since Rodney King in LA). And, I also like the protection this provides for both amateur and professional photographers, as well as other citizens who care about justice.
    It’s interesting too, that the NY Times today reported about two women in Cincinnati who acquired old mug shots which were discarded by the Alameda County, CA, sheriff’s office several years ago–they’re using these “jail head shots” as cards–and soon hope to extend their reproduction of these images to shopping bags and other items!


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