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m →Journalism: ridiculously subjective and demonstrably false assertion should be explicitly attributed to Giordano fan James Wolcott
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In 1997, Giordano left the U.S. for Chiapas Mexico, intending to join the [[Zapatista Army of National Liberation]].<ref name="cheshes62">{{cite journal|last1=Cheshes|first1=Jay|title=A Drug Reporter's Strange Brew|journal=Columbia Journalism Review|date=November–December 2002|volume=41|issue=4|page=62}}</ref> The rebels, however, insisted that Giordano could serve them best as a journalist.<ref name="cheshes62" /> As a result, Giordano began to freelance for the [[Boston Phoenix]] and [[The Nation]] as well as starting his own online periodical, The Narco News Bulletin,<ref name="cheshes62" /> which he launched in spring of 2000.<ref name="cheshes63">{{cite journal|last1=Cheshes|first1=Jay|title=A Drug Reporter's Strange Brew|journal=Columbia Journalism Review|date=November–December 2002|volume=41|issue=4|page=63}}</ref> The Narco News Bulletin's coverage of the [[War on Drugs]] included a "string of scoops"<ref name="dodson">{{cite news|last1=Dodson|first1=Sean|title=Hacks Hit in Drug War|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/jun/25/mondaymediasection11|accessdate=21 May 2016|publisher=The Guardian|date=25 June 2001}}</ref> and led to the resignation of the [[Associated Press]]'s Bolivia correspondent.<ref name="dodson" />
In 1997, Giordano left the U.S. for Chiapas Mexico, intending to join the [[Zapatista Army of National Liberation]].<ref name="cheshes62">{{cite journal|last1=Cheshes|first1=Jay|title=A Drug Reporter's Strange Brew|journal=Columbia Journalism Review|date=November–December 2002|volume=41|issue=4|page=62}}</ref> The rebels, however, insisted that Giordano could serve them best as a journalist.<ref name="cheshes62" /> As a result, Giordano began to freelance for the [[Boston Phoenix]] and [[The Nation]] as well as starting his own online periodical, The Narco News Bulletin,<ref name="cheshes62" /> which he launched in spring of 2000.<ref name="cheshes63">{{cite journal|last1=Cheshes|first1=Jay|title=A Drug Reporter's Strange Brew|journal=Columbia Journalism Review|date=November–December 2002|volume=41|issue=4|page=63}}</ref> The Narco News Bulletin's coverage of the [[War on Drugs]] included a "string of scoops"<ref name="dodson">{{cite news|last1=Dodson|first1=Sean|title=Hacks Hit in Drug War|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/jun/25/mondaymediasection11|accessdate=21 May 2016|publisher=The Guardian|date=25 June 2001}}</ref> and led to the resignation of the [[Associated Press]]'s Bolivia correspondent.<ref name="dodson" />


Giordano has been credited as the first journalist to predict that the presidential campaign of [[Barack Obama]] would be successful.<ref name="wolcott">{{cite news|last1=Wolcott|first1=James|title=The Good, the Bad, and Joe Lieberman|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/02/wolcott200902|accessdate=21 May 2016|publisher=Vanity Fair|date=31 December 2008}}</ref>
Giordano has been credited by [[James Wolcott]] as the first journalist to predict that the presidential campaign of [[Barack Obama]] would be successful.<ref name="wolcott">{{cite news|last1=Wolcott|first1=James|title=The Good, the Bad, and Joe Lieberman|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/02/wolcott200902|accessdate=21 May 2016|publisher=Vanity Fair|date=31 December 2008}}</ref>


==Expanding media privilege in the US to online media==
==Expanding media privilege in the US to online media==

Revision as of 01:09, 28 May 2016

Al Giordano is an American journalist, organizer, and activist.

Early life and career

Giordano was born in the Bronx, New York, and attended Mamaroneck High School.[1] At the age of sixteen, in 1976, Giordano "testified before a legislative commission in the state Senate against nuclear power, felt completely ignored and concluded that the tactic of lobbying the government was futile."[1] He subsequently turned to activism and political campaigning, working to elect John Kerry as senator,[1] working with the Clamshell Alliance,[2] and running the Rowe Nuclear Conversion Campaign, which resulted in the first shut-down of a nuclear power plant.[1] While running the Rowe campaign, Giordano met and became friends with Abbie Hoffman in April, 1981;[3] the two worked frequently together until Hoffman's death in 1989.[1] Giordano collaborated with Hoffman on a number of campaigns, including "Del-AWARE",[4] with Giordano running a petition campaign to demand a referendum.[5]

Journalism

In 1997, Giordano left the U.S. for Chiapas Mexico, intending to join the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.[6] The rebels, however, insisted that Giordano could serve them best as a journalist.[6] As a result, Giordano began to freelance for the Boston Phoenix and The Nation as well as starting his own online periodical, The Narco News Bulletin,[6] which he launched in spring of 2000.[7] The Narco News Bulletin's coverage of the War on Drugs included a "string of scoops"[8] and led to the resignation of the Associated Press's Bolivia correspondent.[8]

Giordano has been credited by James Wolcott as the first journalist to predict that the presidential campaign of Barack Obama would be successful.[9]

Expanding media privilege in the US to online media

After having unsuccessfully filed a libel suit against Menéndez Rodriguez, a Mexican journalist for the newspaper Por Esto!, in a Mexican court, Mexican bank Banco Nacional de México (Banamex) in 2000 filed a libel and slander suit in a New York court against him, Giordano and Narco News for having written articles claiming that the chief officer of Banamex was involved in drug trafficking and, specifically, the Columbian drug trade; that the bank had been created by drug money and that its officers were involved in money laundering. Electronic Frontier Foundation (ELF) joined the case as Friends of the Court due to its importance for Internet-based media. The lawsuit "pitted the powerhouse New York firm Aiken Gump Hauer and Feld against Giordano's mostly volunteer lawyers",[10] who included Martin Garbus and Tom Lesser, who had previously defended Hoffman and Amy Carter[8].

The case against Menéndez Rodriguez was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, but in the case of Giordano and Narco News the court found that Narco News is a "media defendant entitled to heightenend protection under the First Amendment" to the US Constitution and that "... Narco News, its website, and the writers who post information are entitled to all the first Amendment protections accorded a newspaper/magazine or journalist in defamation suits ...", "online journalism is the same as print, radio and TV news when it comes to free-press protections against charges of libel",[11] the first decision to extend the press protections laid out in New York Times v Sullivan to online media."[10][12][13]

Giordano's "... dogged defense of his online publication—a battle that the Electronic Frontier Foundation joined on his behalf—should have a long-lasting effect on bloggers and other online writers." (Fausett)[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Udovitch, Mim (30 August 2001). "Al Giordano". No. 876. Rolling Stone. p. 92. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  2. ^ Jezer, Marty (1993). Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel. Rutgers University Press. p. 283. ISBN 9780813520179.
  3. ^ Jezer, Marty (1993). Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel. Rutgers University Press. p. 284. ISBN 9780813520179.
  4. ^ Jezer, Marty (1993). Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel. Rutgers University Press. p. 282–283. ISBN 9780813520179.
  5. ^ Jezer, Marty (1993). Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel. Rutgers University Press. p. 286. ISBN 9780813520179.
  6. ^ a b c Cheshes, Jay (November–December 2002). "A Drug Reporter's Strange Brew". Columbia Journalism Review. 41 (4): 62.
  7. ^ Cheshes, Jay (November–December 2002). "A Drug Reporter's Strange Brew". Columbia Journalism Review. 41 (4): 63.
  8. ^ a b c Dodson, Sean (25 June 2001). "Hacks Hit in Drug War". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  9. ^ Wolcott, James (31 December 2008). "The Good, the Bad, and Joe Lieberman". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  10. ^ a b Cheshes, Jay (November–December 2002). "A Drug Reporter's Strange Brew". Columbia Journalism Review. 41 (4): 64.
  11. ^ Decision Supreme Court of the State of New York, Index No. 603429/00, Banco Nacional de Mexico, S.A, Plaintiff, against Mario Renato Menéndez Rodriguez, Al Giordano and the Narco News Bulletin, retrieved at http://www.internetlibrary.com/pdf/banco%20nacional.pdf
  12. ^ Mark K. Anderson, Court: Online Scribes Protected, 12.11.01, retrieved from archive.wired.com http://archive.wired.com/politics/law/news/2001/12/48996?currentPage=all
  13. ^ Martin Samson, Banco Nacional de Mexico, S.A. v. Menrendez-Rodgriguez, et al., retrieved from Internet Library of Law and Court Decisions http://www.internetlibrary.com/cases/lib_case28.cfm
  14. ^ Bret A. Fausett, Legal Tools for the New Journalists, April 2002, retrieved from New Architect https://people.apache.org/~jim/NewArchitect/newarch/2002/04/new1015628442216/index.html
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