Bloggers consider themselves journalists

Well, I know I spouted off in class last week that most bloggers should not be considered journalists, but, according to a study by PR Week and PR Newswire and reported on TechCrunch, more than half off all bloggers believe that they are journalists. However, it is telling to note that 91 percent of bloggers report that they refer to other blogs for research while fewer than 40 percent of print reporters reported using blogs for research. As Dr. Groves told us in class last week, a print reporter is trained to "check everything out." It is difficult to confirm if information on a blog is true. . .  by looking at other blogs. There is value in speaking to sources in-person, on the phone or even via e-mail to get information and confirm what another source is telling a reporter. The "old-school" term for that kind of reporting is "wearing out the shoe leather." It would be interesting to see a study that asks print and broadcast reporters if THEY consider bloggers to be journalists. Obviously, bloggers at the New York Times are held to journalistic standards, but I wonder what view old media reporters have of self-labeled new new media "journalists."