JOURNAL OF MEDIA LAW & ETHICS Editor ERIC B. EASTON, PROFESSOR OF LAW University of Baltimore School of Law EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS BENJAMIN BENNETT-CARPENTER, Special Lecturer, Oakland University (Michigan) WALTER M. BRASCH, Professor of Mass Comm., Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania L. SUSAN CARTER, Professor, Michigan State University LOUIS A. DAY, Alumni Professor, Louisiana State University ANTHONY FARGO, Associate Professor, Indiana University AMY GAJDA, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois STEVEN MICHAEL HALLOCK, Assistant Professor, Point Park University MARTIN E. HALSTUK, Associate Professor, Pennsylvania State University CHRISTOPHER HANSON, Associate Professor, University of Maryland ELLIOT KING, Professor, Loyola University Maryland JANE KIRTLEY, Silha Professor of Media Ethics & Law, University of Minnesota NORMAN P. LEWIS, Assistant Professor, University of Florida PAUL S. LIEBER, Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina KAREN M. MARKIN, Director of Research Development, University of Rhode Island KIRSTEN MOGENSEN, Associate Professor, Roskilde University (Denmark) KATHLEEN K. OLSON, Associate Professor, Lehigh University RICHARD J. PELTZ, Professor of Law, University of Arkansas-Little Rock School of Law KEVIN WALL SAUNDERS, Professor of Law, Michigan State University College of Law JAMES LYNN STEWART, Associate Professor, Nicholls State University DOREEN WEISENHAUS, Associate Professor, University of Hong Kong KYU HO YOUM, Jonathan Marshall First Amendment Chair Professor, Univ. of Oregon Journal of Media Law & Ethics, Volume 2, Numbers 1/2 (Winter/Spring 2010) 1 PREVIEW these new and recent titles at www.MarquetteBooks.com Jennifer Jacobs Henderson, Defending the Good Tomasz Pludowski (ed.), How the World’s News News: The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Plan to Expand Media Reacted to 9/11: Essays from Around the the First Amendment (2010). ISBN: 978-0-922993- Globe (2007). 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Thomas Berner, Fundamentals of Journalism: Reporting, Writing and Editing (2007). ISBN: 978- 0-922993-76-5 (paper) www.MarquetteBooks.com Copyright © 2010. The authors of each of the articles published in this issue own the copyrights to their works. For permission to reprint, please contact them (see title page for contact information). Journal of Media Law & Ethics (ISSN 1940-9370 print; 1940-9389 online) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that seeks theoretical and empirical manuscripts and book reviews that advance an understanding of media law and ethics and diversity in society. Submissions may have a legal, historical, psychological, social or cultural orientation but must focus on media and law, ethics or diversity. All theoretical perspectives are welcomed. All manuscripts undergo blind peer review. JMLEis published online and in hard copy form. The online version is open access, which means it is available at no charge to the public. 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All figures and tables Journal of Media Law & Ethics is published by must be formatted to 5.5 inches in width and no more Marquette Books LLC than 7.5 inches in height and must be camera-ready. 3107 East 62nd Avenue Spokane, Washington 99223 Copyright and Production Notes: All works 509-443-7047 voice / 509-448-2191 fax submitted must be original and must not have been www.MarquetteJournals.org • [email protected] JOURNAL OF MEDIA LAW & ETHICS Volume 2, Number 1/2 Winter/Spring 2010 Articles 5 AMY KRISTIN SANDERS Bloggers as Limited-Purpose Public Figures: New Standards for a New Media Platform 28 ARPAN BANERJEE Judicial Safeguards Against “Trial by Media”: Should Blasi’s “Checking Value” Theory Apply in India? 50 PATRICK C. FILE Forgo the Flimsy Shield: Why News Organizations Should Think Twice Before Claiming Shield Laws Extend to Anonymous Online Commenters 72 TEMPLE NORTHRUP Is It My Space or the School’s Space? Confusion and Contradiction in the Punishment of Student Cyberspeech Journal of Media Law & Ethics, Volume 2, Numbers 1/2 (Winter/Spring 2010) 4 BLOGGERS AS LIMITED-PURPOSE PUBLIC FIGURES: NEW STANDARDS FOR A NEW MEDIA PLATFORM AMY KRISTIN SANDERS AND SARAH ARENDT The traditional public-figure doctrine must be adapted to the new faces of online media and the ever-changing conversation outlets available to news consumers on the Internet. After reviewing the traditional tests for plaintiff status determinations in defamation cases, this article establishes a legal standard that American courts should use to determine plaintiff status in cases involving bloggers who sue for defamation. It establishes the proper level of notoriety bloggers must attain before they are considered limited-purpose public figures. Using specific examples from relevant jurisprudence involving both traditional media defamation cases and online defamation cases, this article outlines a three-part test that courts should employ to determine whether a blogger should be considered a public figure. The determination