I meant to blog about this last week, but Eugene Volokh noted a rather ominous comment to the FEC from the director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at George Washington University (Political Activist (Bad) or Journalist (Good)?). From the director's comment:

Until recently, the distinction between the news media and rest of us was clear and uncontroversial. Bloggers blur that distinction. If anyone can publish a blog, and if bloggers are treated as journalists, then we can all become journalists. If millions of “citizen journalists,” as bloggers like to call themselves, are given the rights and privileges of the news media, two consequences will follow.

Dear FEC,

I write to you today to request your kind advisory as to whether this pamphlet defines me as an ACTIVIST or a JOURNALIST. . . .

Sincerely,
Thomas Paine

But while "journalist" is sometimes used to refer to people who are (ostensibly) nonpartisan and impartial, neither the federal election law media exception nor the anonymous source privilege is so limited. Federal election law exempts from various regulations and prohibitions "any news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication." Both nonpartisan news stories and opinionated editorials (including ones that endorse candidates) are protected. Both newspapers that strive to maintain maximum objectivity and magazines that overtly and consistently advocate a particular ideology are protected. Likewise, privileges to conceal the names of anonymous sources don't turn on whether the claimant writes opinionated pieces or objective ones.