
Sen. Feinstein: 'Real' Journalists Draw Salaries - shill
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130807/13153224102/sen-feinstein-during-shield-law-debate-real-journalists-draw-salaries.shtml
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jack-r-abbit
> The bill's definition of "journalist" seems straightforward enough.... _"
> primary intent to investigate events and procure material"_

well.. shoot... that whole _investigate_ part sort of makes a lot of those so
called "real" _paid_ journalists not journalists after all. The fact that some
people specifically use the term _investigative journalism_ leads me to
believe many don't do this. So they won't get protection now, right? :)

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bhauer
Too many snide jokes to be made about "Real" Senators. Must resist...

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rhizome
Thankfully, it's not up to her to decide. She's pretty much never had a real
job, working in government since the 60s.

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Sauer_Kraut
The US government has been making a huge issue of who is a "real" journalist
as to ensure journalist protection does not happen spread to very articulate,
well informed, level headed bloggers.

This is serious.

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malandrew
Making it about salary is doubly interesting because it essentially means that
the government can exercise its control over the journalist establishment via
economic means.

Don't like the way the news is covering a certain topic, just threaten the
economics of a newspaper or radio station with legislation. That would quickly
trickle down from the top management responsible to shareholders to the editor
in the form of silencing journalists on a topic that Washington disagrees
with.

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noonespecial
I wish senators had karma. Sometimes one of them "posts" something that makes
me really just want to reach for the down arrow.

 _Feinstein suggested that the definition comprise only journalists who make
salaries, saying it should be applied just to "real reporters."_

In a debate about journalists, that was clueless, offtopic, and unhelpful.

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betterunix
"I wish senators had karma"

They kind of do:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections)

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noonespecial
Its the difference between saying "you make dumb comments" and " _that_ was a
dumb comment".

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blueprint
Real senators keep and serve the society's justice.

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greenyoda
Real senators are not afraid of the transparency that's being championed by
journalists who don't have salaries. (Fake senators prefer legislation that's
written by lobbyists, contains thousands of pages filled with gifts to
campaign donors, and isn't even read by any real senators before being voted
into law.)

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rhizome
I'm not sure history supports that perspective. Traditionally, senators are
the legislative body of the upper class, which has never been particularly
charitable toward the rabble.

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malandrew
Excellent criteria. This should be a trivial one to game. Just created an LLC
that pays a token salary to everyone that practices journalist in more novel
forms like blogging.

If Steve Jobs can draw a $1 per year salary, so can journalists.

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kornork
Hey, everyone in California, I have an idea: let's vote Feinstein out.

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makr17
In all seriousness, it will depend on who runs against her, either in a
Democratic primary or in the general election.

She often seems stodgy and clueless, but I can imagine _much_ worse...

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kornork
I think this is actually not true. Anyone voted in to replace her would not
have the seniority she has, and wouldn't be in charge of important
subcommittees. In addition, if the person was a Republican, and the Senate
still controlled by Democrats, they wouldn't be very effective.

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protomyth
> Anyone voted in to replace her would not have the seniority she has, and
> wouldn't be in charge of important subcommittees.

That is actually a fairly good reason to vote her out. She can do some real
damage.

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moocowduckquack
And many of them not for much longer, given the general state of the industry.
And are out of work journalists not allowed to work on stuff to try and get
more work?

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pyrocat
Sen. Feinstein makes douchey, inflammatory remark. News at 11.

