On Sat, Aug 20, 2016 at 8:57 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > > > It turns out that posting somebody's sex tape without their permission > doesn't qualify as journalism, for which Gawker was taken to court and > punished. The case was bankrolled by a guy they outed, which also doesn't > qualify as journalism. Gawker called themselves journalists and were proven > repeatedly to not be. And for that they are no more. >
Says who? It isn't only good journalism that deserves protection. It isn't just journalism that I approve of, or that a majority of Americans approve of, that deserves protection. We err on the side of protecting unpopular journalism, good or bad, to make sure that the powerful can not later attack journalism that threatens their privilege. Posting sex tapes and outing sexual orientation are not disqualifications from the protections afforded journalists - and even are not really per se irresponsible journalism. If a paper has a video of a powerful head of a conservative religious organization that attacks sexually active women and agitates against access to birth control having sex with someone not their wife, that might be newsworthy. If a news site has evidence that a wealthy homophobe who funds attempts to criminalize same sex acts is in fact involved in a same sex relationship, that might be newsworthy. I think half of what comes across Fox news is shabby stuff and does not deserve the proud label of journalism - but I would defend them against attempts to sue them in court. Irresponsible, obnoxious, bad and even harmful journalism is the price we pay for a free society. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
