Are we journalists yet?

If I had to find panties large enough for the whole blogosphere...but at least the guy in the green shirt looks happy, or is that a wedgie wince on his face?

This is something I've been wondering for a while now: What are bloggers, exactly? I found myself filling out a Sunday School registration form (for the UU's) and came to "mother's occupation". "Mother" sounded redundant, though accurate; "homemaker" or worse, "housewife" was out of the question. I only use "innocent spouse" when I'm signing the tax return. What about "blogger"? It certainly is a (pre)occupation, though few find successful ways to derive income from their blogs.

I thought about it for another second and put down, for the first time in my life, "writer." It sounded right then and still does. No imposter syndrome. Amazing.

That's just one of the self-affirming things blogging has done for me. And it turns out more and more the law is on my side. Case law is something I'm married to, not something I follow, but as Mr. Blue Gal will strongly attest, case law is what defines and re-defines roles for all of us, from who is a "marriage partner" to what is a "blogger." It's worth paying attention to case law in blogging to find out just who society thinks we are.

There's a good overview of the whole bloggers as journalists, including legal cases, in this National Journal article. As our society continues to grow in awareness of the blogosphere (and please, please, don't forget that blogging is still NEW), bloggers are more and more being thought of, legally, as journalists. This means blogs are protected speech, bloggers can protect their sources, etc. The jury is still out as to whether we will be given press passes as a matter of course, and that, I suppose is not a legal issue but an influence issue. I imagine Markos can get in where he pleases at this point. Blogging as journalism also leads to all kinds of responsibilities, like getting the story right (unless you're blogging for Fox, I guess), and spelling correctly. "Your a geenius" doesn't cut it. Even in comments. Understood?