Tuesday tidbit: Blogger vs. MSM part 57

An interesting tidbit from Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits:

Last Thursday, the mega-popular videoblog Rocketboom featured an interview with the prickly genius who played a key role in developing many popular new-media tools (such as feeds, OPML and podcasting), Dave Winer.

Here's my (Amy Gahran) favorite quote, and I love it because it's so controversial: "Amateur is not below professional. It's just another way of doing [media]. The root of the word amateur is love, and someone who does something for love is an amateur. Someone who does something to pay the bills is a professional. The amateurs have [more integrity than] the professionals. If you're an amateur you have less conflict of interest and less reason not to tell your truth than if you have to pay the bills and please somebody else."

I’ve heard it argued by members of the MSM that bloggers are amateurs and that passion doesn’t equal integrity. My argument has been the opposite, that it is precisely the passion and the labor of love that leads bloggers to doggedly pursue and research information.

This isn’t the case for all bloggers, but I think many are transparent about their motives for pursuing information. And doesn’t that in itself suggest integrity and transparency in the process? At its best, I think this approach is a fine complement to traditional news coverage. I will continue to argue that the news-consuming public will be best served when the two camps work together to provide the greatest level of coverage.