As news coverage democratizes and as producers proliferate, the fabled “power of the press” may diminish. [....] When mainstream news organizations were riding at their highest, they were tougher targets. In those days, too, even in war zones reporters were often extended at least some Red Cross-like protection by combatants.But treating journalists as VIPs means that companies, organizations, or individuals can get away with bad behavior as long as it's in front of non-VIPs — it's okay if nobody important is watching.
Over here, we have Ken White at Popehat:
The Patrick McLaw story blowing up over the long weekend can be traced to terrible reporting by WBOC journalist Tyler Butler in a post that was linked and copied across the internet.Ken's full post provides links to journalists who already have the respect of the public, but end up betraying it, "accept[ing] the headline-grabbing take rather than the less scandalous but more correct take."
An increase in "citizen journalists" seems less like a bug, and more like a feature.
