Our poll on whether bloggers should be given press credentials was up for nearly three weeks and drew lots more votes than any of the previous ones. Thirty-two respondents (18%) said that legislatures should give press credentials to bloggers, only six (3%) said that they should not, and 133 (77%) said that bloggers should be given credentials only if they meet certain specified criteria. (Was somebody stuffing the ballot box? We didn't set up the poll to block repeat voters. In future polls, we will do so.)
One respondent clicked on "Other" and wrote "unless there is shoddy reporting." Hmm, that introduces another question: Should legislatures be allowed to revoke press credentials for any reporter (regular or blogger) guilty of "shoddy reporting?"
About "shoddy reporting": Some Houses could look at their existing constitutional or internal rules for misuse of legislative speaking as a base for determining "shoddyness". Many state constitutions have provisions stating that while legislators can't be held responsible for views expressed in their duties, they aren't immune to prosecution for libeling people from their desks. Similarly, reporters who use their position to willfully misrepresent goings-on to reputations' detriment could be revoked.
Posted by: Lurker | April 02, 2007 at 10:18 PM