Larry Atkins (a professor of journalism at Temple University and Arcadia University) has written a guest editorial in today's Inquirer, with a title:

Outlets that utilize citizen journalists must be careful

Teach them about safety, ethics and accuracy. Use them to augment - not replace - the pros.

In fact, the list (which Glenn linked earlier) is so inspiring that I figured maybe I could use it to help augment the Atkins editorial itself, in the hope of annotating the points he raises:

Benefits from citizen journalism include dramatic photos and videos that add insight to news events. After all, media outlets and their reporters can't be everywhere.

However, there are drawbacks and dangers that shouldn't be ignored.

For one thing, encouraging I-reports from disaster scenes, crime scenes, or natural-disaster areas could lead people seeking their 15 minutes of fame into dangerous situations. It is inevitable that future I-reporters will chase tornadoes or run toward police shootouts to get a better angle.

Other concerns are bias, conflicts of interest, and credibility. Some citizen journalists might submit reports to promote certain agendas.

Of course, there is the potential for scams, fraud, and doctored photos and video. People might stage phony incidents. The fact-checking and source corroboration involved in mainstream media are usually absent from citizen journalism.

Atkins point is that citizen journalists (as opposed to "the pros") might do the sort of things listed above -- "in order to promote certain agendas."

To avoid these pitfalls, news outlets that solicit citizen journalists should set standards and issue warnings to safeguard amateurs.

To avoid these pitfalls, bloggers and citizen journalists should set standards and issue warnings to safeguard news outlets.

But let's continue:

The Citizen Media Law Project, jointly affiliated with Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Center for Citizen Media, has been established to provide tools for citizen journalists. It plans to develop a legal guide that will cover insurance; privacy; access to meetings, records and property; and how to use freedom-of-information laws. ChiTownDailyNews.org plans to recruit and train 75 citizen journalists, one for each Chicago neighborhood, to work with editors to produce a daily news report.

But right there I used that awful "B" word without thinking. I'm not sure that Atkins considers citizen journalists and bloggers synonymous, because when he finally gets around to using the "B" word, he describes them with uncomplimentary (if vintage) phraseology:

Mainstream media have their flaws, including incidents of plagiarism and ethical breaches. However, unlike the army of pajamarati bloggers sitting in their bedrooms, reporters are in the field cultivating sources, interviewing policymakers, investigating and fact-checking. For every insightful I-report, there are thousands of valuable articles, videos and photos produced by veteran reporters.

Citizen journalism is a good thing, but it shouldn't be viewed as the future of journalism, a substitute for professional reporting by established media. Citizen journalism should augment media coverage, not replace it.

Is he suggesting that Michael Yon, Bill Ardolino, Bill Roggio, Michael Totten are groveling in their bedrooms, while "real" reporters are risking their lives in Iraq? As to the interviewing of policy makers, countless bloggers conduct such interviews, podcasts (the Glenn and Helen Show being one) and some even have daily talk radio shows.

Fact checking?

Bloggers don't do that? (Sorry, but there's that list again! It's just too long....)

Hey, I'm all for augmenting media coverage and not replacing it. That's why I wrote this post!

I wish someone would tell me whether pajamas are apropriate attire for jumping into tornadoes and dodging police bullets, though. I have this weird thing about maintaining professional amateur standards.

UPDATE (08/17/07): My sincere apologies for misspelling Bill Ardolino's name. I was in a hurry as I often am. Fortunately, Bill emailed me to set me straight.

Yes, the lack of accountability and fact-checking in the blogsophere is scandalous!

UPDATE: Larry Atkins does not seem to count Fox News as among the pros:

Fox News is a biased propaganda wing of the Bush administration and the Republican Party, yet they consider themselves journalists.

UPDATE: Thank you Glenn Reynolds for the link, and welcome all!

Don't miss Glenn's link to Michael Silence, where I found this gem from Seattle Times Editor David Boardman:

...if we allowed our news meetings to evolve into a liberal latte klatch, I have no doubt that a pathological case of group-think would soon set in.