Massachusetts may finally have a chance passing a journalism shield law.
California and 29 other states already have one, but that hasn’t helped Josh Wolf, a video-blogging convergence journalist who videoed an anti-G8 demonstration in 2005 and has been jailed under federal regulations for refusing to turn over footage to the police. It is clear that state shield laws have had no effect on the Federal Government, which has used every excuse it can to jail, threaten or intimidate journalists—journalists who perform a vital and Constitutionally protected task in American society.
Thomas Jefferson said he would prefer to have newspapers without a government to a government without newspapers. Though the word newspapers has evolved over the years to radio, television and the Internet, the message should be no less clear, the founding fathers viewed journalism as a vital check on the government.
It is your job, as the reader, to stand by the media and not buy into the fear.
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Meghan Gargan has been working to unveil the Internet lately. In our March feature, Affair of the mouse, we get a serious lesson in the seldom-discussed topic of affairs and the disappearing casual sex taboo. The Internet is challenging our inhibitions, and people are all too happy to let them fall.
I’m proud of this piece and the work that went into it.
So, be honest, you know you’ve sported a "kiss me I’m Irish" t-shirt on St. Patrick’s Day despite your Polish ancestry. Blast goes green and orange this month with our cover models, Maureen and Keriann who can wear the shirt and mean it.
But don’t get all leprechauns and shamrocks on me, because Kelly Bodami and The Bitter Irishman, Dan Price explain what’s what in Irish culture.
We also dropped everything and hit Vegas this month to see what Sony’s got up its sleeve lately. Check out "Tech" for more on that.
That’s Blast for now. Stay tuned.
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