"USA, bloggers, journalists treated" ~ Mainstream Media not Only Rejoiced at the Conviction of Cox in the First Place, but Forbes and the New York Times, as well as NPR set out to publicly flog Blogger Crystal Cox.

"Who is a journalist? Who has a few membership card, who works for a media outlet or television station recorded, or simply those who provide information ? In the Internet age, where everyone has the opportunity to publish on a blog or a site's own thoughts, it is not an idle question, because those who fall within the definition of "journalists" often have more legal protections than the ordinary citizen .

Not so in the U.S., where a California court has ruled on Friday that even non-professionals, provided indent topics of public interest , are entitled to legal protection afforded to journalists under the First Amendment. In case they are sued for defamation, it is therefore the plaintiff prove that certain statements have been made ​​in bad faith and that as a result of them, has suffered a loss of some kind."

"a symbolic value as a precedent . As noted Matthew Ingram of GigaOm, the same protection granted to Cox could benefit, in case of need, the personality of a very different caliber, as the staff of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, and in general, all the "deep throats" that reveal secrets about Internet, as long stretches of information relevant to the community .

It is likely that the Court's decision does not like the media to members of the establishment who had rejoiced at the conviction of Cox in the first degree. "

Source

http://www.wired.it/internet/regole/2014/01/22/usa-blogger-equiparati-a-giornalisti/

Note: I held on to this precedent for ALL anti-corruption bloggers of ALL "calibers".