I've given this some thought in the past.

Frankly, I think the term "journalist" is not that easy to pin down, and like the term "expert," it's something one earns by performance, not by official declaration. I can think of some people who certainly merit the term in the mainstream media. But I can also do the same for the blogosphere, and other internet venues.

Conversely, there are people in all these areas who may call themselves journalists, but don't merit the term.

I do know that having a degree issued by Professor Hazinksi, or others like him, has never been, for me, a primary criteria for making that judgment.

I said "...in many cases, been doing a much better job that the 'news industry' has." This does not imply that alternative media is better in all cases, or even in most cases. Just many cases.

Our information access is better now than it has ever been. With the sources opened up, we've got a free market in news, something that hasn't really been the case until a few years ago. Instead of getting our information funneled through a half dozen main sources, there are hundreds. And all of them stand to increase their reputations by being right, and telling the truth. An internet news source caught in an inaccuracy gets nailed pretty hard by the others. You see, another way to gain reputation is to call bullshit on another news source and be able to prove it.

How much of this needed competition did we really have when all our news came from three networks? There must have been some case where CBS dinged ABC for messing up a story, but nothing comes to mind.

We're better off now, although, as with any free market, people need to do more brainwork filtering the crap from the truth (it's amazing how much the "24-Hour" Rule" helps here). I have spent a long time working through sources and have settled on a number of them that have built a reputation for reliability with me. You might be surprised at some of them. I haven't discarded mainstream sources, either.

When the rubber meets the road, I still prefer going back to original material when at all possible.