I get the feeling journalists are a bit jealous about “access.” Admittedly, most bloggers don’t have access to Pres. Bush or Vladimir Putin. But they do have eyes and ears, 24/7, in places journalists only visit as outsiders. Example: The whole State Department forced Iraq assignment business. Within days after the Post reported a revolution within the Department, bloggers who were there were able to provide context that was lacking in the original story. Some of these people have served in State their entire adult lives; they know the culture intimately. If a Foreign Service member tells me a) the meeting in question wasn’t as contentious as the Post made it sound and b) most FS people disagree with the supposedly “rebellious” speakers – I tend to believe the Foreign Service guy. Same with military affairs in Iraq. Blogging is a back channel for inside information that the media just can’t match.
