Is anybody a journalist?
: In a word: yes. Anybody can witness and report and now publish news.
LawDork responds to this question on last nights’ West Wing (which, unfortunately, I couldn’t see). See this post on the show and then this post that uses my little FCC FOIA expose to prove the point. See also this quote on the topic from Glenn Reynolds yesterday.
And see today’s NY Times on Kevin Sites in Iraq — keeping silent on the video he shot of a soldier shooting an Iraqi — that ends with this:
His Web site describes Mr. Sites as a “pioneering, multimedia journalist” who has worked in Afghanistan, Latin America and Eastern Europe as well as the Middle East….
Mr. Sites has worked for several networks and has a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, according to the site.
Thus The Times blesses his credentials. But he’d be a journalist without them. He’s the guy who shot the video that is news.
