Idea Lab

U.S. House Passes Federal Shield Bill, Changes Who is Covered

by David Ardia
2007 Knight News Challenge Winner

One of the things we are doing at the Citizen Media Law Project is keeping our eye on new legislation that might have an impact on non-traditional journalists.  Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed -- for the first time ever -- a federal shield bill by a vote of 398 to 21. This follows on the heels of the Senate Judiciary Committee's passage of a similar bill on October 4. The House version, however, makes a critical change in the language regarding who is entitled to the bill's qualified protections by excluding those who do not receive "substantial...

• October 17, 2007
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Citizen Media Law Project: Where We've Been and Where We're Going

by David Ardia
2007 Knight News Challenge Winner

We formally launched the Citizen Media Law Project's website in April 2007, so it's about time that I provided an update on what we have been up to and where we are headed in the next few months.  First, however, a bit of background on my project. The Citizen Media Law Project (CMLP), a joint venture between Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Center for Citizen Media, is creating a set of online legal resources for citizen journalists. This will include state and federal legal guides; advice on business formation; and a database of lawsuits,...

• October 15, 2007
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