] There has been a rule on the books since 1952 requiring
] foreign journalists to obtain special "I visas," but
] foreign journalists say it was invariably ignored by
] Immigration and Naturalization Service officials who
] required only that citizens of friendly countries apply
] for a visa waiver, an exemption allowing most residents
] of 27 enumerated countries to visit the United States for
] business or pleasure for up to 90 days without jumping
] through any INS hoops.
]
] No more. When the INS was folded into the Department of
] Homeland Security in March 2003, the I-visa rule began to
] be enforced in earnest, sometimes, resulting in at least
] 15 journalists from friendly countries being forcibly
] detained, interrogated, fingerprinted, and held in cells
] overnight with most denied access to phones, pens,
] lawyers, or their consular officials.

So, the context here is that if Bloggers are Journalists then Everyone is a Journalist and so everyone must have these visas. I think its troubling that this rule exists at all. Why do we require journalists to have special visas?

Click through to the Slate article for an interesting rant about INS.

Bloggers are Journalists: The Down Side: Corante