Right On The Right

The battle to define ourselves as journalists, when we choose to do original reporting, has been a difficult one. The Main Stream Media has long been saying blogs only preach to the choir, do no investigative work, and don't contribute as true journalists. The CIA and the NSA disagree. One small step for blogger, one giant leap for journalistic integrity:

Are bloggers part of the news media? The U.S. government -- led by two of its most secretive agencies -- is increasingly saying, "Yes, they are."

Despite the rap that bloggers simply "bloviate" and "don't try to find things out," as conservative newspaper columnist Robert Novak once sniffed, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) have altered policies to indicate they're taking blogs seriously, and a growing number of public offices are actively reaching out to the blogosphere.

The CIA recently updated its policies on Freedom of Information Act requests to allow bloggers to qualify for special treatment once reserved for old-school reporters. And last August, the NSA issued a directive to its employees to report leaks of classified information to the media -- "including blogs," the order said.

The Freedom of Information Act change should be noticeable one, though bloggers and columnists on the right have been fighting through the paperwork to get facts for some time now. Document drops and investigative journalism is no rare feat in the blogosphere, and it's only going to become easier as more people realize we're part of the journalism community.