1. albert fall says:

    Old paradigms collide with new realities.

    Used to be a dead tree journalist had at least enough substance to be working for someone who had enough money to afford a printing press, or a broadcast journalist was working with someone who could afford a TV/radio station.

    It was a short hand for vetting who had skin in the game to be a bona fide journalist.

    As a former newspaper editor and reporter, who is vastly dismayed by the low estate to which traditional journalism has fallen, I thank you for your excellent work (and the work of so many others who contribute additional links and insights from so many media sources).

    There is more, and better, information on the web than the â€old†media could ever have dreamed of producing by itself.

  2. freepatriot says:

    it’s them â€Webbs†that give you away

    all you bloggers got webbed toes or something ???

    and did you ever think of wearing shoes so they don’t notice ???

    (wink)

  3. freepatriot says:

    BTW, I’m betting you webby little ruggers win this battle, so don’t let me down

  4. vinny says:

    i guess there is a law or something specifying that you must represent a â€legitimate journalistic enterprise†to attain a press pass? what are the legalities of applying for and receiving access to a press conference/hearing?

  5. marksb says:

    Hmm…â€legitimate journalistic enterpriseâ€.
    Ya’ mean like Talon News and Jeff Gannon?

  6. orionATL says:

    this is simply a way of suppressing competition.

    and, in a way,

    that is a compliment;

    the weblog world now represents serious business competition.

  7. obsessed says:

    Hey EW: What do you make of the Goodling immunity announcement? Is there any way to find out if she provided a proffer or if this is a … how you say … â€pig in a pokeâ€?

  8. Rayne says:

    the difference between a journalist covering consumer issues–and a bunch of dirty fucking hippies advocating for consumer rights

    In the age of Faux News, should there be a difference?

    Isn’t Consumer Reports both a journalistic enterprise AND an advocate for consumer rights? the only thing CR is missing is a blog…

  9. bmaz says:

    EW – I don’t want to carry the burden of the entire blogosphere, but if you wish, or need is probably a better term, to personally make some legal challenge as to future access, I fully offer my services for what little the same may be worth. I also wonder if there isn’t some magazine, newspaper (maybe your local one), etc. that you could â€associate†with for these purposes. For instance Kevin Drum is â€Washington Monthlyâ€. Kevin is permanently there, but why not an assignment reporter for some entity. Just a thought. The Enoch story is troubling, and it does not sound like available space was the issue either.

    Freepatriot – Did you miss the impressive chatter during the Libby trial about the high class heels EW and Jane Hamsher were sporting? Didn’t sound like those zapatos were crafted for web feet either!

  10. Neil says:

    I wonder whether those curmudgeons holding the key to Congress are so out of touch that they can’t tell the difference between a journalist covering consumer issues–and a bunch of dirty fucking hippies advocating for consumer right

    Let’s face it, NOBODY likes dirty fucking hippies, not even dirty fucking hippes. The only thing worse than a dirty fucking hippy, is to be mistaken for one. But seriously, your posts on the nexus between journalism and governance are tremendous. Thank you.

  12. Anonymous says:

    As a hick out in the boonies, let me ask some basic questions.

    1. Are all these hearings so completely full that you have to have a press pass to get in?
    2. If yes, what do they do when there are too many people with ’legit’ passes for the space available? How do they decide who gets in, who doesn’t?
    3. Are there formal criteria for who can get in? If yes, who writes them, approves them, changes them? If no, who could be prodded to establish some?
    4. What standards would you suggest if you were asked? If the hearing rooms are filled, what is a fair way to allocate the seats? If the regulars always get the seats, don’t they have an unfair monopoly on the info and keep newcomers (bloggers) out? But without regular access you can’t gain the expertise to catch the nuances? How to deal with such issues? What other issues need to be addressed?
    5. Does each committee, subcommitte have its own rules? Given that the Dems control the Senate now, there ought to be some Senators/staffers who believe in transparnecy and the internet who would be allies.
    6. What percent of hearings are ’full’? Are there other ways to listen in? If C-Span doesn’t cover the hearing, are there inhouse audio and/or video feeds?

    I’m just trying to understand how it all works.

  13. TCinLA says:

    Go read Glenn Greenwald’s Friday column for how much even schmo’s like Jonathan Alter don’t like us bloggers. Arianna Stassinopoulos is so angry with people deciding her mash note to celebrities (aka the Huffington Post) is something less than substantial that they now have a policy of â€denying access†if anyone â€attacks a member of the HP community†– like telling Jonathan Alter he suffers from Cranial-Rectal Adhesion Syndrome for his condescending piece of b.s. Not great loss taking that place off the bookmarks.

  14. obsessed says:

    Arianna Stassinopoulos is so angry with people deciding her mash note to celebrities (aka the Huffington Post) is something less than substantial that they now have a policy of â€denying access†if anyone â€attacks a member of the HP communityâ€

    And get this: Richard â€A Good Leak†Cohen is a member of the rapidly deteriorating HP community. Arianna Huffington herself is a truly gifted writer – brilliant, actually – and she can back it up in live debate – but Huffington Post has really gone downhill. AH’s blog is excellent, but at least half of even the left-leaning writing on that site is childishly bad – the kind of drivel that made the term â€liberal†an object of snide derision in the first place. Being famous and politically correct does not a competent writer make. But far beyond that, having anything to do with Richard Cohen is simply inexcusable. To me his tone deaf braindead access â€journalism†is the very epitome of why we need intelligent blogs like this one and like HP was at the beginning.

  15. obsessed says:

    Off Topic, but:

    http://www.fresnobee.com/384/story/47208.html

    I’m trying to get my head around why Rove was willing to take the intense heat generated by firing Carol Lam if doing so has apparently failed to sidetrack the continuation of the web of crimes that began with Duke Cunningham.

    It would seem that Wilkes, were he facing enough years in prison, might become willing to give up someone bigger, and from what I’ve read, it looks like he may know where a few bodies have been buried by a certain Mr. Cheney. Can Bush get away with pardoning Wilkes and Foggo too?

  16. freepatriot says:

    Josh marshal has a link to an article that says foggo and wilkes were â€Re-Indicted†by a Grand Jury (that can’t be good) and the previous 11 counts have been superceded by 30 new counts that incorporate the previous 11 counts

    when kkkarl rove said he was gonna establish a permanent repuglican majority, nobody suspected that he was talking about a majoruty in the federal prison population

    the NEW GOP, We rule cell block C

    oh, and schlozman tells Congress â€sorry but I’ll be on vacation next weekâ€

    since you brought it up mr schlozman, would you mind surrendering your passport …

  17. kirk murphy says:

    â€Let’s face it, NOBODY likes dirty fucking hippies, not even dirty fucking hippes. The only thing worse than a dirty fucking hippy, is to be mistaken for one.â€

    Tsk. Tsk.

    I’ve plenty of dirty fucking hippies, and they’re quite fond of each other.

    I love ’em too.

    (Of course, we’re all from EarthFirst!)

  18. Anonymous says:

    Blogs = irresistable force
    Mainstream Media DOES NOT = immovable object, but many traditional writers and reporters see it that way.

    The mainstream media do not come close to representing the 4th Estate, which is their only claim to stomping grounds of any kind, especially the ones around DC and our state capitols…

    Considering the traditional media’s war-enabling news coverage of the Bush administration’s Iraq tragedy, the argument can be made that the blogs are not invading anyone’s space. The MSM has abdicated that space.

    Rather, the blogs are filling an Truthful Information vacuum, they are an internet invention born of democratic necessity, and their future is as certain as riverwater flowing to the sea.

    The defining lines between bloggers and â€other†journalists are blurring more every day. A writer is a writer is a writer, and by any other medium, their words could ever read more sweetly.

  20. Anonymous says:

    small correction:

    The Hill quote is from an op-ed piece, not an editorial. (and is written by [shudder] someone from the Heritage Foundation!)

  21. Anonymous says:

    @Steve: I don’t know all the answers to your questions, but will give it my best shot and ask others to correct me where I’m mistaken.

    The basic drift is that press credentials to Senate floor activity are issued by the Senate Daily Press Gallery and the Senate Periodical Press Gallery, both of which have committees that do the credentialing. Both have been involved in disputes with online publications (the SDPG was in a fight in 2002 with WorldNetDaily). There’s also a Radio & TV Gallery for those organizations. The standards used are determined by those organizations, not my members of Congress.

    There are analogous organizations for the House.

    I’m assuming that anyone credentialed can get in to cover committee hearings; it’s not a question of space. I also believe that it’s not up to committee chairs but up to the press credentialing organization. The different press organizations were created by Congress, but their internal workings aren’t run by Congress.

    Clearly, at some point the House and Senate will create a press org for credentialing online reporters. There’s already pressure to do so: the Sunlight Foundation’s Open House Project is pushing for an Online Press Gallery.

    The question is how long it will take. Actions like the one against a respected reporter by the Senate Periodical Gallery can only increase the pressure for an Online Gallery for each chamber.