A decision out of the New Hampshire Supreme Court yesterday on the journalist/source privilege was a victory for a website that is a mix of blogs and longer-format articles with anonymous commenting from the public. The site, The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter, is owned and operated by a company that has the coolest name EVER:
IMPLODE-EXPLODE HEAVY INDUSTRIES, INC.
That is awesome. Seriously. If they issue stock certificates, I would buy shares just to be able to get the stock certificate to put up on my wall.
But back to the law… The court’s opinion is here: The Mortgage Specialists, Inc. v. Implode-Explode Heavy Industries, Inc. [PDF]
The Implode-o-Meter Blog explains:
The case was The Mortgage Specialists vs. Implode-Explode Heavy Industries, Inc. (the owner of ML-Implode.com). It concerned items posted to MoSpec’s “Ailing/Watch List” entry — the 2007 “Loan Chart” data for the company, and a post by username “Brianbattersby” accusing MoSpec and its President, Michael Gill, of habitual/systemic fraud.
Sam Bayard at Citizen Media Law Project provides analysis here. The court held that the state’s qualified reporter’s privilege applies and Implode-O-Meter could use it to protect the identity of an anonymous source that leaked a loan document to the site. The court wrote:
[W]e reject Mortgage Specialists’ contention that the newsgathering privilege is inapplicable here because Implode is neither an established media entity nor engaged in investigative reporting. … [W]e observe that: “Freedom of the press is a fundamental personal right which is not confined to newspapers and periodicals. . . . The press in its historic connotation comprehends every sort of publication which affords a vehicle of information and opinion. … [quoting Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665 (1972)]“
The victory is, sadly, bittersweet for Implode-O-Meter. Since the privilege is a qualified one, the N.H. Supreme Court sent the case back to the trial court to engage in a balancing test. And that’s a problem, because Implode-O-Meter is now, thanks to lawsuits, out of money. Founder and publisher Aaron Krowne said yesterday:
We are pleased with the court’s ruling on the fundamental questions of free speech and find little to complain about in the analysis. … We are, however, perplexed that the case was not completely dismissed. … Besides the overall frivolity of the original action, we are unclear what valid issues involving us remain in play … At any rate, since we have been rendered insolvent by the expense of this and similar frivolous SLAPP suits, we aren’t sure how we will be able to mount a continuing “defense” at all.
Tags: implode, journalist, litigation costs, mortgage, New England, new hampshire, shield laws
