A real reporter does not start out by asking for tickets to a high-priced event. Everyone should have been taught that in journalism school.

I don’t believe you have to go to a brick and mortar school to learn journalistic ethics, but it does help to study the history of journalism. Read Fred Friendly’s work, at least.

And if you aren’t willing to read something that’s not readily available on the internet, I wouldn’t say you’re much of a journalist. Just my opinion.

But, it’s getting harder for people younger than myself to get paper based experience. Electronic communicators have every right to claim that they are truly journalists. There is no Supreme Court ruling as to who gets to own the word “journalist.”

And hopefully, there never will be.

As to what would happen if every blogger were a journalist? Well as an anthropologist who is sometimes a journalist, I’d say that’s exactly what is happening/just happened.

The demise of journalism and the rise of the so-called blogosphere may be regared by future residents of Earth (if they care) as a key feature of the early 21st century.

In the end, it won’t matter what anyone calls these communicators.

Speaking of Legislature, mine also came in handy when going there recently for the first time (ironically – to cover legislation involving public-safety personnel). But I could have just sat there and taken notes – I only wanted to introduce myself because I intended to stand at the front of the room and shoot video when the people from our area testified. Saying “I’m credentialed” probably eased the way … although as you all know, EVERYBODY shoots pix and video these days and the line is so blurred!

Regardless of what you decide to call yourself or whether you pursue official credentials, the preceding comments do hint at the most important thing: If you want to be taken seriously, conduct yourself seriously. Don’t take any crap and don’t let anybody blow you off. More and more, we – as in, neighborhood journalists everywhere – are the ONLY ones showing up for stories, and we deserve access, on behalf of those we serve.

Adam – there is public access to the legislature, but there’s something in the article about this guy requesting a level of access that Joe Q. Public doesn’t have, but that a “journalist” does.

That’s all a long preface to this: OF COURSE you deserve media credentials IF you are a serious reporter covering news, in whatever format. When I read about the NYC case, my jaw dropped. Almost the first thing we did when we turned our site into a business – a professional, journalist-run news organization – in late 2007, was arrange to get official media credentials. My husband and I both have them. Yeah, maybe my preceding 30 years in journalism helped. But we blazed the trail as the first local neighborhood newsies to get them, and others without that kind of background – but working seriously at covering their neighborhoods’ news – have followed.

Truth is, we don’t need them much, mostly spot news and sporting events, but when you need them, you need them.

Oh, and besides throwing out “blogging” as a verb and “blogger” as a noun – looking at your excerpt above – let’s bag “blogosphere” too. It’s not like there’s some segregated area of the Web where only blog-format writers lurk, and only blog-format readers read.

So to recap: If you are covering the news, you’re a newsperson. I call myself a journalist, since I’ve been one for more than three decades, but if you don’t feel comfortable with that, try “newsperson” on for size. And go get a media credential if you don’t have one already!