At the last Colorado Association of Black Journalists meeting, the subject of journalism and the law came up and I talked about a new book by Scott Gant titled “We’re All Journalists Now.”
The subtitle is “The Transformation of the Press and Reshaping of the Law in the Internet Age.”
If you are a journalist, intend to become one, and juggle various tasks, some of which involve journalism, this is a good book to check out. That said, the underlying theme that Gant, a Washington D.C. attorney, explores is the question of whether everyone, from citizen journalists to bloggers, is now or should be considered a journalist.
This question has become possible with the proliferation of mass media and the internet today.
It is a question that Gant tackles from a legal perspective in reaction to the Valeria Plame affair and laws being enacted by the U.S. Congress to protect journalists of all categories.
Gant has put forward some very solid arguments in favor of changing existing laws to accommodate the so-called “non-traditional journalists.” I am particularly amazed at what the internet is doing in these interesting times and particularly with regard to journalism.
