According to the California Appeals Court, yes:
The emergence of technology that allowed personal publishing on the Internet also triggered a tiring debate over who should be considered a journalist. Thanks to Apple Computer, there’s finally a clear legal answer.
And it’s the right answer. If you can post information on a Web site, you’re entitled to the same legal protections the law extends to the mainstream media.
Legal scholars will surely have a lot more to say about the California Appeals Court ruling (click here for PDF) rejecting Apple’s bid to force an enthusiast Web site to turn over its records. But the most important precedent for me was the court’s treatment of the ‘who is a journalist question.’
So there you have it. Bloggers now not only enjoy the same protection under the law as any other publisher, but in the eyes of the State of California are every bit as legitimate as journalists.
Whether journalists feel the same way (or should feel the same way) is an entirely different matter altogether.