Citizen journalists and bloggers in Texas would have the same protection to write about politics and other matters of public concern as do members of the “mainstream” press under a bill filed today in the Texas House of Representatives.
House Bill 4237 by State Rep. Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg) would allow bloggers and citizen journalists to be protected by what is known as the “Privileged Matters Clause” in the Texas Civil Practices & Remedies Code. Under the Privileged Matters Clause, newspapers and other periodicals are protected from being sued for libel when reporting on things that happen in a court of law, the proceedings of a government body, or meetings dealing with public issues.
If Pena’s bill passes, citizen journalists and bloggers would be placed on level footing with the mainstream press when it comes to being able to cover matters of public concern. In addition to protecting bloggers and citizen journalists, the bill also adds “Privileged Matters” protections to bloggers who use technology such as Webcasting and Podcasting.
“We are very pleased to see this bill be filed,” said Vince Leibowitz, chair of the Texas Progressive Alliance, the nation’s largest coalition of state-level progressive netroots activists. “This has been a long time in coming. We tried to make it happen in 2007, but were not able to. I am particularly pleased to see that the bill is authored Representative Pena, who was one of the first two legislators in the nation to become an early adopter of blogging.,” Leibowitz continued.
Leibowitz said he expects to see bi-partisan support for the bill develop in the coming days. “This is something that bloggers on both sides of the ideological spectrum need. Whether you are a conservative blogger or a liberal blogger, you need to be protected when you comment on matters of public concern. Rep. Pena’s bill provides those necessary—and long overdue—protections,” he continued.
“This is the first step toward a real victory for internet activists in Texas. I’m very proud of how far our movement has come,” Leibowitz said.
March 14, 2009 at 12:05 pm
bill was a way to address that. As soon as she heard that this bill would harm mainstream bloggers and citizen journalists, which are so important to the flow of information in modern politics, she immediately offered to pull (it).” And lastly, more onAaron Pena’s HB-4237: Citizen journalists and bloggers in Texas would have the same protection to write about politics and other matters of public concern as do members of the “mainstream” press under a bill filed today in the Texas House of Representatives.
March 14, 2009 at 9:29 am
[...] Vince at Capitol Annex has the lowdown. Here’s a snippet: Citizen journalists and bloggers in Texas would have the same protection to write about politics and other matters of public concern as do members of the “mainstream” press under a bill filed today in the Texas House of Representatives. [...]
March 22, 2009 at 8:43 pm
[...] Legislation Will Extend “Privileged Matters” Protection To Bloggers, Citizen Journalists | Capit… SAVE Interesting piece about the Texas Lege considering extending standard media protection rules to bloggers and citizen journalists. I [...]