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I'm in favor of allowing the news media more access to information and giving that priviledge to more people. Both bloggers and citizen journalists should have the opportunity to get credentials so they can cover Congress the same way mainstream media journalists do. In fact, I'll go a step further: bloggers and citizen journalists should be able get credentials for any type of news reporting.

With all due respect to journalists who have studied and worked to get where they are today, you have had a de facto monopoly over news reporting for decades. However, you've also had an incentive to sell newspapers, television advertising, and radio advertising. Since bad news seems to attract more attention than good news, there is the potential for bias, as well as abuse of position, by "creating" news for the purpose of selling advertising.

I think it's only right and fair to open up news reporting to smaller, alternative media. I realize this entails risk to the powers that be, who lose some control over what is reported and how the news is told. However, sad as it is to say, I think that the media need a check and balance over the news that they report. Independents offer a way to do this. Allowing them to get credentials would be a step towards less biased, more factual news reporting.

Perhaps the problem could be solved by encouraging individuals to do more fact checking and critical thinking while allowing the media stranglehold to continue. However, by entertaining that line of thought you are automatically tarnishing the reputation and image of the news media by assuming that it's going to falsify the news, intentionally or otherwise. Better to loosen the stranglehold and give more points of view for the audience to chose from.

Learn more about this author, Mark Dykeman.
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