Excerpt

Bloggers should enjoy traditional press freedoms and not face regulation as political groups, lawmakers and online journalists said Friday.
In separate letters, Democratic lawmakers and Internet commentators urged the Federal Election Commission to make sure that political Web sites that serve as focal points for political discussion, such as Wonkette.com and Freerepublic.com, don't have to comply with campaign-finance rules.

This is an excerpt. For full article, click here.

Vocabulary

Try to guess what these words mean from reading the article.
If you need help, check out OneLook Dictionary Search.

New words you will see in this article:

activist(s)

blog(ger)

campaign

commentary

commentator

comply

consolidate

curtail

craft

dampen

disservice

diversity

focal

foster

impact

insight(ful)

lawmaker

media

orientation

outlet

regluation

traditional

urge

viewpoint(s)

Talking Points

With your tutor, conversation partners, or classmates, you may wish to discuss the following:

1. Do you think that Internet blogs should be regulated by the government?

2. Should people have the right to access any information they choose on the Internet?

3. Should "political" blogs be forced to pay fees for supporting a particular candidate?

4. What do you think will happen if government tries to censor certain information
on the Internet? What will happen if they don't?

5. Who has the right to curtail freedom of speech?
(The government, the individual, political organizations, no one)

For More Practice

With a partner or in groups, debate the pros and cons of censoring information on the Internet.