General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Was Jeff Gannon a journalist? [View all]Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)If we are going to accept that the government cannot define or declare that a free speech activist who leaks government secrets is a non-journalist and then unworthy of full first amendment protections then we cannot do a switch and declare someone whose politics are the total opposite are not journalist either. This is simply using state power as a bludgeon against one's opponents.
Whether Jeff Gannon or Wolf Blitzer who certainly did far more to propagandize for the Bush White House than Jeff Gannon ever dreamed of - is a journalist might be a matter of opinion like asking if Britney Spears is an artist. But I no more want the state to be empowered with the ability to determine who is a journalist than I want them to be empowered with the ability to determine who is an artist.