Freedom of the Press

I'll preface this post with a warning that it's not of a particularly current nature. I was doing research for my paper yesterday and happened across an article posted by the Campbell Law Observer on Freedom of Speech in the US and the interpretations of "freedom of the press"as it applies to the media industry and whether bloggers should be "protected" by it. Journalists don't like the idea that "random bloggers" are being lumped into the industry, but the differences in interpretation of the law mean that the distinction may not even be relevant. It interested me in light of our discussions that news cannot be an invasion of privacy - although in the case discussed in the article, it dealt with defamation, so it is in a bit of a different category than informational news. There is also a clear gap where technology has advanced and different "news" sources exist.

In order to build on that interest I looked for how relevant the conversation of freedom of the press is in Canada and if I could find a similar discussion and found this blog. It was less of a slant on technology changes, but tied in to our initial discussions of what privacy means and what expectations for privacy there are in public spaces. The segment on laws and photography and what we morally accept versus feel is wrong struck a chord. Overall, an interesting read that tied-in to our discussions on privacy interests and protections or lack thereof. Hope you enjoy a change of tact.