It’s a tough question, but a district court judge reckons not.
Whaleoil is a blog site. It is not a news medium within the definition of s 68(sub-section 5) of the Evidence Act. It is not a means for the dissemination to the public or a section of the public of news and observation on news.
This will surprise many people. Slater has broken a number of news stories, and if his highly opinionated commentaries on politics and current affairs don’t count as “observation on news”, then what exactly are they?
But let’s accept for a moment that the Evidence Act doesn’t really provide a satisfactory test to determine who’s a journalist and who’s just a wannabe. As it happens I have a far better test. It goes like this:
A journalist has to be someone I like or respect. I neither like nor respect Cameron Slater. Therefore Cameron Slater is no journalist.
This test is foolproof—so long as I’m always sitting in the judge’s chair.
Imperator Fish 
He definitely a journalist, in the style of the town crier. The town saved money on the village idiot at that location.
I think most journalists have a code of ethics that they at least attempt to adhere to. Slater is regularly bailed up for breaches of suppression orders and defamation. He’s really testing the limits of free speech here with his reckless mud slinging. OTOH I do want guys like Nicky Hager to continue to hold the powerful to account. It’s a tough case.
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