<P> It was ruled for the first time, by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, that a blogger is entitled to the same free speech protection as a journalist and cannot be liable for defamation unless the blogger acted negligently . In the decision, journalists and bloggers are equally protected under the First Amendment because the "protections of the First Amendment do not turn on whether the defendant was a trained journalist, formally affiliated with traditional news entities, engaged in conflict - of - interest disclosure, went beyond just assembling others' writings, or tried to get both sides of a story ." </P> <P> Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization, ranked the United States 30th out of 197 countries in press freedom in 2014 . Its report praised the constitutional protections given American journalists and criticized authorities for placing undue limits on investigative reporting in the name of national security . Freedom House gives countries a score out of 100, with 0 the most free and 100 the least free . The score is broken down into three separately - weighted categories: legal (out of 30), political (out of 40) and economic (out of 30). The United States scored 6, 10, and 5, respectively, that year for a cumulative score of 21 . </P> <P> In 2014, the U.S. ranked 46th in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index . This is a measure of freedom available to the press, which encompasses areas such as government censorship and is not indicative of journalistic quality . Its ranking fell from 20th in 2010 to 42nd in 2012, which was attributed to arrests of journalists covering the Occupy movement . The U.S. ranked 49th in 2015 and 41st in 2016 . In 2012, Finland and Norway tied for first place worldwide . Canada ranked 10th, Germany tied with Jamaica for 17th and Japan tied with Suriname for 22nd . The UK ranked 28th, Australia 30th and France 38th . Extraterritorial regions of the U.S. ranked 57th . </P> <P> In 1798, shortly after the adoption of the Constitution, the governing Federalist Party attempted to stifle criticism with the Alien and Sedition Acts . According to the Sedition Act, criticism of Congress or the President (but not the Vice-President) was a crime; Thomas Jefferson--a non-Federalist--was Vice-President when the act was passed . These restrictions on the press were very unpopular, leading to the party's eventual demise . Jefferson, who vehemently opposed the acts, was elected president in 1800 and pardoned most of those convicted under them . In his March 4, 1801 inaugural address, he reiterated his longstanding commitment to freedom of speech and of the press: "If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it ." </P>

Which of the following is true about the supreme court's interpretation of freedom of the press