Online Speakers have a First Amendment Right EVEN if they are not members of the Privileged "Media" or "Press". All "speakers" have First Amendment Rights, even Crystal Cox EXPOSING, Reporting on Corruption.

EFF Amicus Brief on Crystal Cox Case.

Judge Marco Hernandez Over Reaching Court Opinion
http://ia600403.us.archive.org/9/items/gov.uscourts.ord.101036/gov.uscourts.ord.101036.92.0.pdf

EFF Amicus Motion in Support of Free Speech

"The First Amendment protects all speakers, not just the press, from strict defamation liability. Moreover, protected-though-critical speech cannot be the basis for a verdict reached by a sympathetic jury.

Especially when read in light of the Court’s (unnecessary and erroneous) additional rulings regarding if and " how online speakers can earn an elevated “media” or “press” status"  these findings paint an unnecessarily risky legal landscape for such speakers in the district, one at odds with the First Amendment and Oregon law.

Accordingly, the jury’s verdict should be overturned and a new trial granted. Moreover, amicus urges the Court to additionally reconsider its rulings denying the Defendant the protections of Oregon’s retraction and shield law statutes."

Source and Entire Free Speech Supporting Document
http://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-01-11-EFF%20Amicus%20in%20Support%20of%20Cox%20Motion%20for%20New%20Trial.pdf

The First Amendment is NOT a Special Privilege JUST for Journalists.

"The First Amendment protects all speakers, not just the press, from strict defamation liability"

EFF Amicus Brief on Crystal Cox Case
http://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-01-11-EFF%20Amicus%20in%20Support%20of%20Cox%20Motion%20for%20New%20Trial.pdf

This Case is NOT about Crystal Cox, it is About the RIGHT to Expose Corruption, and to Speak Out for the victims of corruption with the same legal rights as Big Media and Traditional Reporters.