You Call That Journalism?

The Free Press Clause was written for a world of ink and paper. But what happens when anyone with a smartphone can be a journalist, and powerful billionaires can secretly bankroll lawsuits to silence outlets they dislike?

In this episode of Amended!, host Liberty explores one of the most urgent and unsettled questions in First Amendment law: who counts as "the press" today, and who gets the protections that come with it.

From legacy newsrooms like the New York Times to self-styled "First Amendment Auditors" testing the boundaries of public access on livestream, Liberty maps a media ecosystem that has exploded in size and splintered in legitimacy. Along the way, she unpacks the landmark legal cases that define press freedom as we know it, including:

• New York Times v. Sullivan — the foundational ruling that set the bar for defamation claims against public figures
• Bollea v. Gawker — the Hulk Hogan sex-tape case that bankrupted a major new media outlet, later revealed to have been secretly funded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel

Key questions this episode answers:

• What does the Free Press Clause actually protect — and what doesn't it cover?
• Can bloggers, citizen journalists, and livestreamers claim the same legal protections as traditional reporters?
• How are press freedoms being tested, eroded, and redefined right now?

Amended! is an educational, irreverent six-part podcast series produced by Voxtopica, with support from the Frick Initiative at Washington University in St. Louis.

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