We've been down this road before. More than once. Really. Here's the latest extremely cognisant and cohesive essay on the subject, again written by one of them untrained, uneducated, unwashed blogger folks. I don't really have a ton to throw out here - I mostly wanted to just share the article. Christy Finn does a remarkable job summing up a lot of my thoughts on my matter (far better than I could have done, I might add). Not bad for a Ducks fan.
Interestingly, the original comments that started this (from Detroit News' Chris McCoskey) are familiar to me:
Journalism employs trained professionals. We actually have to go to school for this stuff. We take our jobs seriously. There are rules and standards that we are beholden to. There are ethics involved. We actually talk to, in person, the people we write about. If we rip somebody in an article, you best be sure most of us will confront that person the next day and take whatever medicine we need to take.
You do have to know most reporters at legitimate news sources work hard to deliver fair, accurate and pertinent information.
And what they do is vastly different than what the clever dude in his pajamas is doing on his computer, down in his basement.
Somewhat reminiscent of comments from Adrian Dater a while back:
If you're going to get a real credential in the press box to a real big-league event, you've got to put in the hours, the time and the money getting the job done - not just sitting in your underwear and delivering sermons from the mount.
Are they passing out canned statements at union meetings or something?