Minn. Blogger 'Johnny Northside' on Wrong Side of Jury Verdict

Image via Wikipedia"Truth is a defense to libel" is a legal truism that may no longer embolden citizen journalist bloggers who last week saw a seven-member Hennepin County (Minn.) Civil Court jury sock John Hoff of The Adventures of Johnny Northside blog with a $60,000 judgment.

In the Fourth Judicial District of Minnesota case, Jerry Moore v. Don Allen & John Hoff (Case No. 27-cv-09-17778), the plaintiff was awarded damages of $35,000 for lost wages and $25,000 for emotional distress in his tortious interference with contract claim, according to an article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Moore, the former director of the Jordan Area Community Council, sued Hoff in June 2009, blaming the blogger for his termination by the University of Minnesota, where Moore was hired to study mortgage foreclosure economics by the university's Urban Research & Outreach/Engagement Center. Don Allen was dropped from the case as a defendant after he and Moore reached a settlement and later testified at trial against Hoff.

Moore alleged Hoff,  blogging as his alter ego Johnny Northside, created a "defamation zone" through five posts, one of which alleged Moore was involved in a "high-profile fraudulent mortgage" out of which former realtor Larry Maxwell was convicted and sentenced to a 16-year prison term.  Moore was not a defendant in the Maxwell case. Moore was fired the day after a Hoff blog post about him appeared.

District Judge Denise D. Reilly tossed four of the five purportedly libelous posts as not being susceptible to a defamatory meaning, but rather, constituting Hoff's opinion. The jury, however, found that Hoff interfered with Moore's employment relationship with UM that resulted in Moore's ouster. Hoff allegedly took credit for Moore's dismissal in a subsequent post.

Hoff, who alleged his post was truthful and that he had the documentation to back his linking of the plaintiff to the mortgage debacle, is expected to appeal the verdict. Some media law experts and court watchers fret that the verdict against Hoff could have a chilling effect on citizen journalism and believe the decision will be overturned on First Amendment grounds, while others cite appellate courts' deference toward jury verdicts.

Coffeeshop Newsroom: Where to Get the Latte-est News?

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The Asbury Park Press & Gannett-operated news blog, Freehold InJersey (http://freehold.injersey.com)["FIJ"], has established a "Coffeeshop Newsroom", partnering with Zebu Fornu Cafe on Main St. in Freehold Borough, the county seat of Monmouth County (N.J.), according to an FIJ press release.

The collaboration intends to involve the community and promote citizen journalism.  FIJ staffers will man a computer workstation in the cafe, from which they will conduct interviews, write stories, and generate multimedia content for the website. Patrons are encouraged to approach the staffers to share news tips, discuss stories, and learn how to post stories  to the open source news site.

The press release claims the cafe will boast a working newsroom with FIJ staffers holding office hours daily. The website editor is hopeful the Coffeeshop Newsroom will enable community members to get to know the reporters and offer FIJ staffers insights into their readership.

Wonder if there will be any signs posted at the workstation, such as "Please don't feed the reporters!" and "Please Don't Make Eye Contact with Our Anonymous Sources!" The dedicated staff at "TUOL" applauds FIJ's novel approach to connect with the community it serves, but would wager that if the FIJ journobloggers had their druthers, coffee would not be the  beverage of choice.

Gannett Paper in Cincinnati Sees Red

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Plunging ad revenues and a dropoff in circulation prompted Gannett Co., Inc., last week to slash 101 jobs at The Cincinnati Enquirer.

The Enquirer, founded in 1841, has a daily circulation of approximately 193,300 and a Sunday circulation of 272, 700, according to Editor & Publisher. The paper's total workforce before the latest round of cutbacks is between 800 and 920. Among the casualties was the staff of CinWeekly. The free arts and entertainment tabloid targeted readers in their 20s and 30s and was distributed mostly through newsboxes and other venues throughout Cincinnati.

Cincinnati's chilly reception to traditional media mirrors that of cities nationwide coping with the recession.

Judge Rules NJ Shield Law No Help to Blogger

In a case of first impression, a Superior Court judge in Monmouth County, NJ, has ruled that New Jersey's shield law (N.J. Stat. sec. 2A: 84A-21 to 21.8), which protects against disclosure of confidential information to the government, only applies to persons affiliated with the news media and offers no solace to a private individual blogging from Washington.

Presiding over the defamation, false light, trade libel action, Too Much Media, LLC, John Albright and Charles Berrebbi v. Shellee Hale and John Does 1-13 (Case No. L2736-08), Judge Louis Locascio wrote in a 19-page opinion that Hale, a licensed private investigator, is not a journalist engaged in disseminating information eligible for shield law coverage, but rather, a "private person with unexplained motives for her postings." Though characterizing the Garden State's shield law as broad, Judge Locascio said legislators who passed the measure "could not have anticipated the instaneity with which people can now transmit information."

Because she is not a journalist, Judge Locascio held that Hale not only cannot avail herself of the shield law, but also that she could be found liable for defamation if the plaintiffs prove her postings critical of them were merely negligent, rather than requiring the plaintiffs to satisfy the higher standard of proving the postings were made with "actual malice" mandated in cases involving media defendants. Moreover, because Hale's posts accuse the plaintiffs of engaging in criminal conduct and question their competence as businesspeople, Judge Locascio ruled the plaintiffs can seek damages against the defendant without having to demonstrate they suffered actual financial loss.

"Too Much," a computer software supplier that services the online adult entertainment industry, allege that Hale blogged postings on a pornography industry message board accusing the plaintiffs of threatening her life and violating New Jersey's identity theft statute. Hale focused on NATS, a "Too Much" product that facilitates businesses linked to one another in tracking click-generated commissions. Faced with having to reveal the sources of her allegations in a deposition, Hale sought shield law protection.

Judge Locascio wrote that Hale's posts did not undergo editorial review or rigorous fact-checking, and likened them, not to journalistic writing, but rather to anonymous public comments that follow news articles on journalism Web sites. To extend shield law protection to Hale, Judge Locascio wrote, "would mean anyone with an email address, with no connection to any legitimate news publication, would post anything on the Internet and hide behind the shield law's protections."

If the decision is appealed as expected, and subsequently upheld, online amateur journalists who want the comfort of shield law protection had better shore up their news media connection before venturing down New Jersey's virtual turnpike.

Media Pros: YouTube Can Be a Journalist

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News Media heavyweights Katie Couric, Bob Woodward, and Nicholas Kristof are among the journalists who have lent their talents to a new YouTube venture designed to teach citizen journalists how to report the news.

YouTube, the Google-owned site on which subscribers share videos (often with disregard for copyright laws and good taste), launched youtube.com/reporterscenter this week that features online journalism training in a variety of subjects. Woodward, who combined with Washington Post cohort Carl Bernstein to become the "Woodstein" that brought down the Nixon Administration with their coverage of the Watergate scandal, presents a five-minute tutorial on investigative journalism. CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric's contribution to YouTube are pointers on conducting a good interview. Kristof, the New York Times columnist, weighs in on being a foreign correspondent.
Other participants include Ariana Huffington, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Website, who addresses citizen journalism (because talking about how to get professional journalists to write for you for no money seems tacky).

YouTube is looking for experienced journalists to upload instructional videos. With the public increasingly looking to social media and other nontraditional sources for their news, it may be a case for these celebrity journalists of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."