Access for Bloggers: A Question of Legitimacy

Journalists exist to gather information and disseminate it to the public, and a key part of doing their job lies in getting access to sources and events for that information. Unfortunately, in many cases, bloggers are not able to get access to important events and meetings for that information, as they are not considered journalists, thus not only making their job more difficult, but signifying that they have a long way to go before they can prove themselves legitimate sources of news.

To some degree, the wariness of considering just any blogger a journalist is warranted. Bloggers often start publication without a formal education on the principles of professional journalism, if not the belief that such principles are outdated or misaimed. At best, they are effective alternative journalists that can provide stories and insights that the mainstream media would not, but at worst, they regurgitate the news with their own partisan spin on it. Unfortunately, such distinctions are not always clear-cut, and the people in charge of regulating access to events that are restricted to the people involved in them and members of the press thus have no official way of determining whether they are the better or worse kind of blogger, and would likely exclude all journalists except those from particularly noteworthy online outlets like The Huffington Post. Attempting to judge based on quality is a better idea, but invites subjective judgment, and will leave some excluded bloggers crying foul and claiming that they were excluded while lower quality ones were allowed access. Finally, allowing everyone access may work for things like school board meetings, but there are some instances where it would only be practical to only allow press representatives in, and that could not be used for every occasion.

However, there still needs to be a way for bloggers to be recognized as journalists. Bloggers may not be officially trained or have the backing of reputed organizations, but they still have the ability to produce timely and insightful journalism, and cannot all be dismissed as ordinary citizens with websites. They can act as a check on the mainstream press and potentially correct them whenever they make mistakes by investigating the stories on their own. Limiting access limits the number of people who report on a story, and if only a few people do it, misconceptions and lies are more likely to circulate.

There should be a way for bloggers to register their websites with an organization after proving that they are able to report well, and be allowed the same degree of access to events as members of the mainstream press so long as they continue reporting and adhere to professional standards of conduct. This would thus enable them to have the same freedom that members of the mainstream press do, and give them reason to abide by professional codes of conduct. Journalists have rights and responsibilities in their search for their truth, and bloggers who play the part should be acknowledged as real journalists and be given both.