In the business section of today’s New York Times there’s an article about journalistic weblogs and issues of independence, editorial oversight, and legal liability.
They talk to many of the usual suspects, such as Eric Alterman, whose pro blog is one of seven at MSNBC:
“I can’t imagine a nicer way to make a living,” said Mr. Alterman, who is paid by MSNBC to write about politics, the media and culture in his Web log. “It’s therapeutic, and you get things off your chest. I can write whatever I want.” [I notice Jrobb pulled this same quotation]
They also quote Dan Gillmor and discuss the “Steve Olafson fired by the Houston Chronicle” story.
Commenting on the same article, Dylan Tweney writes in tweneyblog, “Thought experiment: What will happen to the free-and-easy culture of the blogosphere after the first weblogger (journalist or otherwise) gets sued for libel?”
(And, yes, I am still working on my full write-up of the panel at the Berkeley J-school last week.)
Strangely, the Times used “web logs” (two words) in its headline but ‘Blogs’ in the sidebar blurb on the front page of the business section.