Lawmaker: Register Journalists

So much one can say about this silly piece of anti-New Media legislation sponsored by Michigan State Senator Bruce Patterson, an attorney and Republican. Here's my take on it.

Better yet. Here's what Big Journalism's editor, Michael Walsh, had to say: "For someone who practices constitutional law, Senator Bruce Patterson doesn't seem to understand very much about the Constitution. The intent of press freedom, as enshrined in the First Amendment, was precisely the opposite of what Patterson is proposing: an unfettered media that was free to print news, information, disinformation, lies, partisan talking points, even things that would be considered calumny today. The Founders understood that the federal government rightly has no role to play in the people's access to information. Indeed, the freewheeling newspapermen and pamphleteers of 18th-century America were far more akin to today's blogosphere than they were to the establishment journalism of the mid-20th century."

Photo: Bruce Patterson