Bloggers vs. journalists. It’s a debate that still continues in the media circles, with only the most cursory examples used to argue the case. So the next time the pajama-clad scribes are cast as the evildoers ruining professional news careers, point them to this post on DailyKos as evidence of how these two sides work together.

Diarist “lollydee” relays a tip from a friend who is a Bank of America human resources employee. The news was “crappy.” There were  layoffs at the bank just weeks after a “three year protection package” expired for many employees, meaning no severance. It has not not been reported by the local or national “MSM”.

The writer reports only what is directly reported from the friend, but it’s important inside knowledge. In the comments section of the busy DailyKos site, others chime in to help triangulate with other data points. Some confirm the story, others point out some clarifications based onother reports. Lollydee posts them all as updates, and a narrative starts to form. But in the end, he/she tosses it to the “real” reporters. Addressing those sending tip offs in the comments:

PLEASE contact your local media, or at least one of the front pagers on this website.  I’m not the MSM.  I’m just an individual diarist/blogger and because I’m unfamiliar with the legality involved in posting certain types of information, I’m not comfortable going beyond this commentary.

I’m not a reporter…

I’ve done this once before, and I like to think I’m giving leads to those REAL reporters out there.

And, because I’m a good community citizen, when I get an updated fact I post it.  When I have a mainstream link, I post it.

Even though their work at the grassroots level takes place in the primordial soup of journalism (proto-news, if you will), bloggers are not out to negate the job of professional journalists. The best bloggers know where their own limits end and where responsibility begins.

Journalism academics and professionals need to understand this dynamic more, rather than engaging in the same simplistic CNN Crossfire-style bloggers vs. journalists debate.