I’ll point to the work of another Center for Independent Media reporter, Eartha Jane Melzer; her coverage of a privatized security contractor received an honorable mention for the Hume Award from the National Press Club in 2008, and was based on more than 6 months of reporting and a series of features culminating in a 2800-word opus.

Marcy’s work on the Plame leak and the Libby trial meets and exceeds the kind of reporting brownandserve points to; here’s a person who has several related beats, is an acknowledged subject matter expert on them, has published a book covering the subject of one beat. As far as I can tell, the only reason brownandserve can’t see Marcy’s work for what it is is that she’s a dirty fucking hippie blogger. (Never mind Marcy’s credentials as an instructor with a doctorate in dissent literature, which is a lot more than many so-called journalists bring to the table.)

There’s also the work of ePluribus Media, which has sustained investigative reporting on Mike Connell and his role as IT service provider to the Republican Party and Bush Administration. Again, no acknowledgment of their years of work on the topic. Nearly uncompensated work as well since there are very few ads on their site; what they’ve earned probably doesn’t make a dent in their expenses.

The work of investigative can be done online by bloggers; only the method by which it’s compensated which is in question.

But speaking of Marcy: She just caught ABC in a big fat lie.

I applaud their efforts and believe this would be noble community work for retirees, especially those with some journalism background, but this will not substitute for the newspapers, large and small, that fall.

This is a problem with no answer that I can see. I think Simon was correct to raise it. Marcy is an uncommonly good reporter. I would like her views on how much more difficult it would be to do her job well if there were no mainstream sources, like the AP. As much as we condemn their laziness (and often with good reason) that very criticism can lead to a huge story well-reported.

Let’s say Marcie can produce 20 in-depth astounding stories annually. Then ask yourself how many topics are covered on this site in a single day. It is an ominous task.

That’s what Simon was saying. It doesn’t mean shit if he doesn’t know who the bloggers were at the zoning meetings. How many people read that blog, anyway? Probably a small fraction of the people who read the Sun, even now. In a way, Simon’s ignorance of the work that blog is doing symbolizes the problem. For a population to be informed, there have to be people both willing and able to report the news. Then they have to know where to read it.

but rather than make this about blogs vs newspapers – my concern, especially after thinking about some of what simon had to say, is how is anyone (blog, newspaper, etc) going to be able to afford to do the kind and amount of reporting we need to be an informed citizenry?

no easy answers that i can see.