Activist Josh Wolf Released from Prison

According to C|NET staff writer Erica Ogg, activist and blogger Josh Wolf has acquiesced to a grand jury's subpoena for his video of a July 2005 protest in which the government claims one or more persons attempted to damage a police cruiser.

Ogg incorrectly states that Wolf is the longest-incarcerated journalist in U.S. history, when I believe that honor belongs to an actual journalist in the form of former New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who also gave in to demands for her to testify and give evidence in a criminal probe.

The problems here are many. You can immediately dismiss the notion that a blogger is a de facto journalist because journalists have specific goals in reporting news and seeking the truth, revealing both without bias and to the best of their abilities to do so. I know of no blogger that has made any attempt to hide their bias in any regard, while the overwhelming majority use bias to gain fame and attention.

This is not to say that a blogger cannot also be a journalist, only that a blogger is not the equivalent of a journalist straight out. One does not make the other.

It is easy to tell the difference with a few "tells", where journalists:

* Always cite their sources
* Double source anonymous information
* Respect copyright law
* Shun personal bias
* Do not become a part of their story
* Write more than 250 words

Faux News Channel aside, of course. If you don't meet these minimums, I think it's arguable as to whether or not you are even a respectable blogger, much less a qualified journalist. My opinion not withstanding, more problems persist.

The First Amendments guarantee of the "freedom of the press" is being warped in this case to mean that a journalist is in effect unaccountable to the law for anything they are personally involved in that relates to the dissemination of news.