Not every blogger wants to be considered a journalist. Some prefer to be activists and others just commentators. But those who do, whether they do original reporting or aggregate material from the mainstream media, whether they write neutrally or provide commentary, can be considered journalists. We pick up the phone, send off an e-mail and do research on Lexis-Nexis just as well as anyone else. We source our material. We are quick to correct mistakes. Many of us have backgrounds in fields like law, economics and the social sciences. Combining that expertise with an ability to write and tell a story is more than adequate.
As for the blogs that do original reporting, some are as good if not better than the mainstream media. Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo is a prime example of superb, sourced, fact-based, investigative journalism.
Second question: Should bloggers have access to press passes through the same outlets as traditional media? Should they accept press passes?
Absolutely, to both questions. I was one of the credentialed bloggers for the 2004 Democratic primary. All of us worked our tails off. We attended and reported on the speeches and events in the conference hall. We interviewed candidates and politicians and uploaded original photos. We tried to make our readers feel like they were there with us so they could share in the excitement. Almost all of us did this on our own dime, with help from our readers. We took it very seriously. Same thing for those of us who got press passes for the Scooter Libby trial. Firedoglake's coverage was as good as and usually more detailed than the MSM reporting.
Clearly, there's an audience out there that is hungry for citizen media. Bloggers on both sides of the political aisle provide it. We've already proven ourselves to be responsible journalists and opinion columnists. It's only right that we get to sit in the front of the bus with everyone else.
Jeralyn Merritt
TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime
