Judge Orders Blogger to Pay $2.5M, Says Bloggers Aren't Journalists
The self-proclaimed “Investigative Blogger” Crystal L. Cox was ordered to pay Obsidian Finance Group $2.5 million for defamation.
U.S. District Court judge in Portland, Judge Marco Hernandez, sided with the financial services group in their defamation suit citing that Cox is not a real journalist.
“…although defendant is a self-proclaimed "investigative blogger" and defines herself as "media," the record fails to show that she is affiliated with any newspaper, magazine, periodical, book, pamphlet, news service, wire service, news or feature syndicate, broadcast station or network, or cable television system. Thus, she is not entitled to the protections of the law,” Judge Hernandez said at the ruling.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Cox is the founder of several controversial investigative blogs, including Obsidian Finance Sucks, which accused Obsidian Finance Group and its executive, Kevin Padrick, of tax and governmental fraud.
Padrick released the following statement after the ruling:
“Let me reiterate that our case did not turn in any way on the Oregon Shield Law. And even if Cox was entitled to heightened First Amendment protection we are confident the jury would have found in our favor using a higher standard given the lack of any proof of the truthfulness of Cox's statements.”
The Oregon Shield law outlines the protections granted to members of media personnel in Oregon if required to testify in legal proceedings.
When Cox received a cease-and-desist letter from Obsidian, she refused to end her blog on the grounds that she is a journalist protected by Anti-Slapp laws:
“Yes I am a Self-Proclaimed Investigative Blogger and under Supreme Court Decisions, under the law as making a living as an Investigative Blogger, Gathering News, Taking Interviews, and Reporting on these Stories I am Media,” she argued in court. “I am an Independent News Media. I am a Public Forum, my blogs do go out in news feeds and I am Legally Media.”
In his ruling, Judge Hernandez noted that the shield laws don’t cover Cox’s defaming statements and that Cox lacked “any education in journalism…any credentials or proof of any affiliation with any recognized news entity.”
Cox told Seattle Weekly that she plans to appeal: “A blogger is a journalist, or reporting in my opinion, when they take interviews, get tips emailed, get and research documents, study cases and depositions, talk to those personally involved, and post their story just as a traditional reporter.”
