NJ Supreme Court Reviews Journalism Shield Laws in Pornographic Blogger Case
Attention Bloggers! In a case that could have far-reaching effects on online commentary in the media, the NJ Supreme Court heard arguments today on whether a blogger from Washington state is protected by New Jersey’s so-called shield law concerning her writings about out Freehold-based Too Much Media Inc. ("TMM"), a maker of software used by many adult entertainment websites to track sales. According to the court filings, the blogger Shellee Hale, a former Microsoft employee and a private investigator, maintains she was working as a journalist in 2008 when she set out to investigate organized crime infiltration of the online porn industry. Hale created a website under the domain name Pornafia.com (which now forwards to shellehale.com) to report her findings, and even planned to publish a book on the subject. Hale chose not to publish any articles on her website (Pornafia.com) because she claims TMM princi...