Does the 1st amendment allow the press to legally blackmail people?

[Yavin4]

So, if a newspaper or another media organization obtains damaging, yet truthful information, can they use that information to blackmail someone? And, is it legal to do so because of the first amendment?

I believe that this practice is used more often than we think. A tabloid obtains salacious information about a celeb and withholds it in exchange for an exclusive interview.

[Pachamama]

1. I believe AMI has tried to claim they are protected as press under the 1st amendment

But when it’s shown that they were not press or journalists but really a Kompromat/Extortion and Blackmail operation used as a political tool, they will not be able to hide behind that protection.

RICO



PS: and it also I bet will be shown to link to Trump

[2naSalit]

5. THIS

RICO... they will lose all assets too. Bye bye tRump Towers and all golf courses and whatever else they have! And that goes for all co-conspirators!

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Hearst Newspapers

had pushed those boundaries early in the twentieth century . And Fox News established a carve out as too a court ruling in their favor over a similiar case of publishing a lie as news. Believe the Court ruled Fox as a Entertainment Company rather than a News Company.

[unblock]

3. no.

freedom of the press arguments can be used to protect the media if they publish something, but it can't be used to protect them from blackmailing someone.

it's not a blanket license for any press organization to break any law.

[sarisataka]

4. Isn't blackmail

Illegal by definition?

[RockRaven]

6. The 1st Amendment protects the press from the government saying "you can't publish that"

or punishing them for having done so. But that is not absolute, in theory or in practice, because other people have rights too, and those rights overlap and conflict at times.

I'm sure blackmail is very common. Even amongst people whose speech is otherwise protected -- like every American citizen. But it is still illegal as hell. The hard part is proving the facts of the case in court.

[onenote]

7. It's more complicated than that

The first amendment doesn't protect the press or anyone else from prosecution for blackmail.

But if the press, or anyone else, gets ahold of photos, they have a first amendment right to publish them. Or arguably, to not publish them. Or to sell them. If AMI could have said to Bezos, we're going to sell these photos to TMZ or Breitbart or some other outlet that might then publish them, or you can buy them from us instead, would that be illegal? It's not an easy question and it shows the difficulty in drawing lines between legitimate and non-legitimate actions.

Ultimately, I think AMI's vulnerability will turn on the question of whether it obtained the photos through an illegal act that it committed itself or induced/sponsored. And I'm pretty sure AMI is sweating bullets about the possibility it will have to answer questions in a legal forum about its source.

[jmowreader]

8. No legitimate news organization would ever blackmail anyone

It would be the kiss of death if we did - the only thing we really sell is credibility, and one blackmailing would destroy that forever.

As to the original question...no, no it’s not. You also can’t publish knowingly false statements with intent to harm someone. Libel and slander are torts rather than criminal acts, so you need to seek justice in the civil system. No one does it against American Media because their attorneys are so good. Blackmail is a Real Crime so Pecker finally stuck his in a place he can’t get it out of.

Srsly tho, how they found time between attacking Hillary Clinton and attacking Meghan Markle to go after Jeff Bezos is a mystery, but they managed.

[DURHAM D]

9. Go Jeff