Undermining the mainstream press... one story at a time

On page 194 of Helen Thomas's Watchdogs of Democracy? The waning Washington press corps and how it has failed the public she writes:

And from what I've read, trained journalists who blog love the freedom of unedited opinions. Opinion it is - unfettered stream of consciousness, a marketplace of rumors, instantaneous feedback and discussion, a bully pulpit for all. Journalism it's not.

The horse is out of the barn. Blogs are the new opinion poll. Blogs, therefore, affect how the news is covered. Blogs and bloggers can lead credentialed journalists to news stories. Bloggers are not journalists and should not undermine the mainstream press. Bloggers are not deserving of reporter's privileges - to think so is ludicrous.

(Reporter's privileges, I believe, means primarily the legal rights of confidentiality, but I wouldn't swear to it.)

Okay. I'm no journalist. I freely admit it. But I have a hard time thinking that, oh, say, Josh Marshall isn't one. And for someone whose book's thesis is that the "mainstream press" failed abysmally to write the "news stories" - even when led there by bloggers - Thomas is a bit defensive here.

"Undermine the mainstream press"? You know - if the mainstream press was doing its job, it wouldn't be so easy to undermine. Just sayin'...