TMZ.com: Watchdog of Democracy?

Image via Wikipedia

First Amendment groupies, clamoring for gutsy journalists to follow the path burned by John Peter Zenger and other ink-stained giants, need look no further than Harvey Levin, founder of TMZ.com, the Web site whose contribution to a free press includes "Beach Bums," featuring close-up photos of celebrity tuchi frolicking in skimpy bathing suits.

Levin will battle the L.A. Sheriff's Dept. in court over what he believes is the law enforcement agency's violation of state and federal laws when it secured a search warrant and obtained TMZ.com telephone records as part of the Sheriff's inquiry into leaked information concerning the 2006 DUI arrest of "Lethal Weapon" star  Mel Gibson in which the devout Christian Australian actor-director-hunk launched into an anti-Semitic rant against his Jewish arresting deputy.

TMZ.com broke the story about "Braveheart's" indecorous behavior, which contradicted the Sheriff Dept.'s spokesperson, who claimed Gibson's arrest occurred without incident.  The L.A. lawmen deny they engaged in illegal activity, noting that they lawfully obtained a warrant signed by a judge and vetted by a prosecuting attorney.  Media lawyers and a bevy of editors are not so sure, decrying the Sheriff rummaging through a "journalist's" phone records as an abuse of power contrary to the tenets of the First Amendment.

Who would have guessed that the moving force behind a Web site that today features stories about Jon Gosselin, Michael Jackson and Kanye West is all that stands between a vital free press and a police state?

Fired Friedman Sues Fox

Image via Wikipedia

Fired Fox News entertainment columnist Roger Friedman is seeking more than $5 million in damages from his former employer in a lawsuit filed in the New York Supreme Court.

The case, Roger Friedman v. Fox News Network,LLC, NewsCorp America, Twentieth Century Fox and Rupert Murdoch (No. 09-602005), includes counts alleging wrongful termination, tortious interference, and defamation arising from Friedman's ouster on April 4, 2009. The complaint alleges that Friedman, who currently writes for The Hollywood Reporter, was being paid $250,000 annually by the defendants in a contract that ran from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2009.

According to the complaint, Friedman submitted a review of the Hugh Jackman actioner "Wolverine," that he viewed on the Internet before the 20th Century Fox film's release to theaters, and was dismissed for purportedly endorsing movie piracy by his actions.

Although not alleged in the complaint, Friedman has previously told NY Daily News gossip columnists and other media outlets that his dismissal over the "Wolverine" incident was pretextual and that his job loss was the result of pressure applied to the defendants by Hollywood heavyweights, including actress Kelly Preston, who wanted Friedman fired because he has been critical of Scientology in his column.

Friedman is represented by acclaimed First Amendment litigator Martin Garbus. The "dueling Rogers over Bucks" (Roger Friedman and Fox News President Roger Ailes) has The Huffington Post and blogmeister Gawker breathless with excitement, but it's doubtful the public will find a sympathetic horse in this race.