There is. In some cases I’ve heard “Boing Boing is a blog, not journalism!” used as an excuse for Boing Boing’s lack of corrections to some posts. That has a converse effect when it comes to special protections and exemptions reserved for news organizations. I think BB should qualify as news, as this article, for example, is news to me (and that they should take that role seriously even if it isn’t their primary role).
However, even news organizations can be found liable for copyright infringement for even short video clips they record and broadcast, as in the case of a 15 second clip of a human cannonball act recorded by a Scripps-Howard Broadcasting freelancer that was later aired on broadcast news. The finding of infringement was affirmed by SCOTUS.
Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. - Wikipedia.
Fair use is not a reliable panacea, not even for news organizations.
