At CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism, where I teach, I’m grateful to report that we just were awarded a grant from the Knight Foundation to create a guide with the top 10 rules bloggers and amateur journalists need to stay out of court. My colleague at CUNY, Geanne Rosenberg, who is a law-school graduate and is also journalism director at CUNY’s Baruch College, will be the primary author and I’ll help where I can. Gary Kebbel, Knight Foundation journalism program officer, said in the press release: “If this grant helps keep just one blogger out of court for reporting the news, it served its purpose.”
This could not come at a more opportune moment. See the list of suits against bloggers maintained by the Media Law Research Center. Other are, thank goodness, finally working on this problem. Bob Cox at the Media Bloggers Association, has been a tireless advocate for bloggers in courts and legislatures. And the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School is also offering help. We need all the help we can get to assure not only that bloggers stay out of court but that we all maintain our free speech, free of suit and harassment.
