Demaestro - 10:44 pm on Dec 7, 2011 (gmt 0)

The bottom line is that if you're going to call yourself a journalist, you have to follow the disciplines of a journalist.

That is very idealistic. Ever heard of a little rag called National Inquirer? Are people who write stories there considered journalists by this judges definition? Would you consider them as following the disciplines of a journalist?

How about TMZ? They would consider someone working a "news story" at TMX a journalist, but why? Just because they have an affiliation with a TV program? Would you consider TMZ staff as having followed the disciplines of a journalist?

I would argue that most bloggers are 10x the news persons than anyone working at TMZ. I think that "following the disciplines of a journalist" is not a good way of determining who is and isn't a journalist.

To me, someone is a journalist if they have ever reported anything to the public. Including breaking stories on Twitter or a blog. The attack on Bin Laden reported by a guy at a cafe on Twitter comes to mind.