Josh Benton (Dallas Morning News and crabwalk) says he’s the least optimistic panelist about the effect of blogs on journalism, but in part because he, says, old media isn’t as monolithic as we think. For example, he gets more responses to what he writes in the print media than to his blog and not just because the print articles have more readers.

Dan Gillmor (San Jose Merc News and blog, of course) is thrilled by the way blogging gives voice to people outside the usual centers. “My readers know more than I do,” he says.

JD Lasica (Online Journalism Review and blog) begins by snapping a photo of someone in the audience. “The line between audience and panelist is arbitrary,” he says. (I’m sitting next to Ernie the Attorney who has been wondering if our aversion to control structures sometimes get in the way of developing online communities.) Not all blogs are journalism, JD says, but many do “commit random acts of journalism”

Matt Haughey (metafilter) says that old journalism will have to take on some of the properties of new journalism.

Is blogging just unreliable journalism? JD points to Ken Layne’s saying “We can fact-check your ass.” Dan looks forward to the day that our bullshit filters apply strongly to all media. Is there a NY Times of blogs? Dan replies that blogs aren’t general purpose. He points to Glenn Fleishman’s weblog on 802.11 as “the best source of information” about wifi. Matt says, “Blogging’s transparent.”

Josh worries that people only read what agrees with them. (Personally: Nah. Sure, we probably all tend to read what we agree with, but, first that’s not close-mindedness but how we understand and learn. Second, even if you try to stay close-minded, you will bump up against more dissenting opinions than you did before the Internet.) Dan points to blogs that proudly point readers to sites that disagree with them.

Josh doesn’t want weblogs to try to become journalism. “It bastardizes the form.” A scattering of applause.

Dan: We’re seeing a democratization of media itself. It’s bringing new voices. JD says that within a few days of working in the media, you understand what the filters are: what will get your story on the front page, etc. Blogs explode the myth of objectivity.

Question: Old media journalists still get all the access. Dan: Glenn F. in fact has as much access as any print journalist and it’s only because he’s built such a valuable and respected site.

Dan: This is a grand opportunity for people in business and government to get the world out. But if they treat it as another chance to bullshit us, we’ll detect it. Q: Do you see any businesses using it well? Dan: Not yet. (Note: the referent of the “it” is ambiguous: weblogs or the web.)

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