] "I think that bloggers have put the issue of
] professionalism under attack," said Thomas McPhail,
] professor of media studies at the University of
] Missouri-St. Louis, who argues that journalists should be
] professionally credentialed. "They have no pretense to
] objectivity. They don't cover both sides."

[ Bullshit. Fox, CNN, Gannett, The Times, The Post, and all the rest of the traditional (read: corporate) media have put professionalism under attack for years, particularly the last 5 or so. Mr. McPhail isn't wrong about the blogs being biased, and often less than attentive to opposing viewpoints. However, he seems to have founded his statement on the assumption that "professional" journalists, or the corporate filters they're forced to shovel their work through, DO produce balanced and objective work. They don't. By a large margin they don't. Every so often a gem is produced in which someone rediscovers the seed of Journalism and does their job, and we usually get it here on Memestreams as people find such highlights.

The assumption that professional "journalists" are doing their jobs, or being allowed to do their jobs, is about as dangerous as it gets. It's blind faith, and has no place here. The professionals may have the "pretense to objectivity," but it seems like all too often that's all it is, a pretense, a shield, belying the skew just beneath the surface. -k]

The New York Times - The Internet: Web Diarists Are Now Official Members of Convention Press Corps