![Gustave Caillebotte. Paris Street, Rainy Day (La Place de l’Europe, temps de pluie). 1877. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago. [Source: Wikimedia Commons]](http://williscreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/gustave_caillebotte_paris_street_rainy_day_1877_wiki-300x229.jpg "gustave_caillebotte_paris_street_rainy_day")
As I’ve followed the growth of hyperlocal journalism on the web, I’ve been dismayed by parallel growth in lawsuits intended to intimidate bloggers’ freedom of the press. At the hyperlocal level such suits usually involve landlords and real estate developers, two categories of humanity with which I don’t have the best of track records. So I took note when On the Media broadcast this story about SL APP lawsuits and what bloggers can do to protect themselves:
A SLAPP, or “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” is a little known but widespread threat to the First Amendment. SLAPPs are meritless suits brought by companies, individuals and sometimes the government, not to win, but to silence critics. Congress is now considering federal anti-SLAPP legislation. OTM producer Nazanin Rafsanjani investigates.
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