Who IS a journalist?

Who is a journalist? Does anyone even really know?

For many people, a journalist is someone who went to a prestigious communications school, received their communications degree, and has had years of experience at a journalistic institution.

For journalists, a journalist is someone with a certain sense of moral and journalistic integrity who has an innate curiosity about the world and the desire to inform the public of necessary information and to be a part of the fourth estate.

Chris Daly, BU professor, blogged in 2005 that: "Recently, for example, Los Angeles Times media critic David Shaw argued that bloggers should not be considered journalists because they have no experience, they have no editors, and they have no standards."

First of all, who is to say these bloggers have no experience? Many times bloggers are quite experienced journalists who simply do not want to work for the conglomerate media anymore. Blogging is a forum for them to maintain their loyal audience while be able to publish important information free from bias.

Secondly, is there a standard police watching the blogosphere? I think not. If someone is active enough to be blogging frequently about things that actually matter to society, it is most likely they have some sort of standard that they are following.

In a 2005 Slate article, Jacob Weisbergs says that: "Even before the advent of blogging, the issue of who qualified as a journalist was a tricky one. Were the pamphleteers of the American Revolution journalists? Was Mark Twain?...Today, a limitless number of people with no institutional backing can establish themselves as reporters, analysts, or commentators, abide by whatever rules they prefer, find audiences of varying types and sizes, and perhaps even earn a living....These days, freedom of the press is available not just in theory but in practice to an unlimited number of individuals."

Yes, there are endless numbers of bloggers with no education, and no "institutional backing." Yes, they can abide by whatever rules and standards they choose.

BUT- this is the epitome of freedom of the press: the ability for a person with an innate curiosity and journalistic integrity to discover and disseminate news to the masses in an unbiased way.

So, I ask you. Who is a journalist?