Thomas Paine, America’s First Blogger — Was He a ‘Journalist?’

According to a New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Judge, Bloggers are not considered journalists in the eyes of American jurisprudence.  In his decision, Judge Anthony J. Parrillo wrote:

There is, of necessity, a distinction between, on the one hand, personal diaries, opinions, impressions and expressive writing and, on the other hand, news reporting.

By this definition, Thomas Paine, Father of the American Revolution, was not practicing journalism when he printedCommon Sense.

Thomas Paine, often held up as America’s first journalist, was really just a blogger using parchment and a printing press instead of a laptop and broadband connection.

Read the rest here.