Monday, April 04, 2005

That Pennsylvania case that said there was no fair report privilege for the media

In Norton v. Glenn, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that neither the state nor federal constitutions require recognition of a neutral reportage privilege for the media. last week, while I was down at the beach, I read that the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on the media's appeal in the case.

Rightly so, I say. The first amendment does not mean that you report that somebody said, "the king is a fink," and that somebody said, "the king is not a fink," and declare that's fair and balanced reporting. I mean, some protesters and protestees are not saying anything that ought to be in the paper at all. If you know that neither President Bush nor John Kerry are Communist agents, then you should not print that someone says they are, at least not without saying that the someone has got it wrong.

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