Are Bloggers Reports?

Great post Daniel.  I think you are right on.  It is a hard question to answer, yet one with significant implications.  Reporter, as you pointed out, is a fluid term.  Perhaps, it is even a meaningless one now.  Perhaps, writer or author might be more appropriate at this juncture.

Let's face it, one of the implications of the word reporter, namely the journalistic responsibilities that such a title incurs, are useless.  One of the reasons why I had a difficult time with Steve's proposition that the daily show and the colbert report must entertain journalistic ethics is that journalistic ethics themselves aren't what they used to be.  As we've pointed out time and again, as the main stream media fractures, and different networks align with different agendas, the whole notion that the media must maintain an objective or fair face is undermined.  Sure, there are a few remainders, but by and large, I believe this holds true.  

A writer must anticipate objections in order to have a clear and strong argument.  A reporter often gets to hide behind the reputation of the paper he or she writes for.  An author must maintain coherence and consistency in order to make an effective rhetorical claim.  A reporter often can write toss away wires, where he or she is less accountable for the language and is more focused on the content (as if those two were not inseparable).  

All in all, it might be more useful to talk about writing responsibilities than reporting ones.  

Daniel, I am going to disagree with you on one point.  As of now, I might agree, blogs tend to run in ideological company.  However, MSM is more and more often purporting that they behave in a neutral way, than actually acting like one.  One thing we've yet to take into account is web 2.0 technology of which blogs are only the vanguard.  

Imagine, five years down the line, roughly the same distance between us and Gilmore, a forum for collaborative policy research, incorporating multiple convergent and dynamic opinions of not only lay citizens but public officials as well.  Sure, one thread might be more or less neutral than another, yet the overall effect would be one of constantly shifting overarching attitudes creating a refrain of net neutrality.  

If the role of the media is to be the fourth estate, then such a forum circumvents it.  In a way, the media is a window.  It allows us to peer into the unknown of the government.  Yet, often the glass can get smudged, dirty, or even down right opaque.  What if the panel was simply removed?