BLOGGERS QUALIFY AS JOURNALIST?

As a former journalist, I couldn't help but get dragged into this debate that apparently has found its way into the courts. The topic was raised in a recent article of USA: Today at: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2005-02-02-about-a-blog_x.htm . As tempting as it may be to agree with my conservative Minnesota neighbor who publishes the immensely popular Power Line Blog, I have to draw the line when it comes to labeling bloggers as true "journalists." For my 2 cents, sending email just ain't journalism. But, let's start with the definition ... which would include the notion that a journalistic person keeps a 'journal' -- and importantly uses that journal to pursue an occupation. This occupation therein implies a certain (but arguable) level of responsibility, trust and accountability to either an employer and/or an audience. Well, OK -- I may be on thin ice here as definitions have no end of exceptions, so let's try to keep this simple. A 'journalist' in my book has answered a vocational interest to report on life's activities as a career, AND is accountable to an employer and audience with clear professional standards and ethics, plus considerable training and skill -- therein defining it as a profession. From a purely professional perspective, the skills of such a calling are most often learned, while advancement is earned. As in any profession, achieving such attributes will normally gain peer recognition, respect and levels of reward. While a seriously committed blogger might indeed satisfy some aspect of a journalist's attributes, the reality is -- most don't. Most couldn't cut it in a newsroom. Most appear to simply be thinking out loud, rambling with very little linguistic discipline, and less training or accountability to anyone for responsible reportage. This would lessen the chance that a professional journalist or the general public would equate the casual blogger with the virtues they EXPECT of a journalist, in terms of trust and reliability, accuracy and relevance. But of course the opposing argument has some merit too ... that well-paid and trained journalists have been disloyal to the profession through irresponsible reporting -- but that's another story.