Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and local journalist Abdul-Hakim Shabazz have settled a legal dispute.  In my view, this is both good and bad news.

First, the good news.

To once again rundown what happened, Rokita had scheduled a news conference at the Statehouse and barred Shabazz from entering the room, claiming he was not a genuine journalist.  Shabazz filed suit, saying he had a right as a reporter to cover the news conference conducted by an elected official.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana joined in Shabazz’ side of the legal dispute.

On March 28, it was announced that the lawsuit had been dismissed at Shabazz’ request, after reaching a settlement with Rokita.  The Attorney General’s staff tried to spin this as a way to save taxpayer dollars, but the settlement was a clear win for Shabazz and the ACLU.  Journalist Shabazz will now be allowed into Rokita’s media events.

That part is very good news.  Let me explain why there is some bad news here.

I was looking forward to a federal judge ruling on how to define a journalist.  When I worked in radio broadcasting during the 1970s & early 1980s, as a reporter, I was recognized as a journalist simply because I worked for a radio station in the newsroom.

But now that I write a volunteer local news blog here in Fishers, do I qualify as a journalist in all contexts?  People here in Fishers now know me after more than 10 years of writing this blog so I have no problem covering events run by local officials.  But what about others?  Could I be excluded from a news conference by an outside group because I am just a volunteer blogger?

I was hoping the judge in this case would provide some legal guidance on just who qualifies as a journalist in this day and age.  The only explanation I can come up with for the Rokita settlement is that the Attorney General knew he would lose this lawsuit brought by Shabazz & the ACLU.

So, the journalist wins the court battle in an out-of-court settlement, a win for journalism in general.  However, we still do not have much legal guidance on how journalists such as myself are treated by elected officials and others hosting news conferences.

Perhaps, in time, the law will give us that guidance, but not in this case.