That's a tough one. Every blog is a little different.
One definition of "journalist" is a person who keeps a journal. In that respect, yes, bloggers are journalists.
The other definition is a bit tricky, and here is what dictionary.com has to say anout "journalism": the occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or broadcasting news or of conducting any news organization as a business.
If you look at it that way, no, most bloggers are not journalists. I will admit that there are some out there who do their own fact finding, so some bloggers are indeed journalists. They're very good at it.
I do read a few blogs a day, and many are like this-- commentary and observations. I occasionally do what I like to call a "value added" thing-- stuff I didn't have the time and space to tell you on television. I do track "hits" and the "behind the scenes" blogs generate the most interest. I can't go to that well every day. Certain newsroom discussions should remain internal.
As I write, ad nauseum, every year, on the November 16th anniversary of this blog, it's more of a "get to know me" thing.
There's no easy answer. Just because someone is a blogger doesn't mean their opinion or what they've discovered should be immediately dismissed. The media business has changed, and there's a lot more of that ahead. Bloggers are now part of the mix, and we'd all better get used to it.
