professional bloggers?

Something in our organizing principles to be added here - do we "protect" professionals from the bloggers, or "professionalize" bloggers and bring them into the fold?

Story from UK Press Gazette

New bid to bring professionalism to the blogosphere

The Media Bloggers Association is to unveil new membership criteria aimed at bringing professionalism to the “blogosphere”.

MBA president Robert Cox (pictured) is proposing membership criteria which would include:

• requiring that members take an online course with the US-based Poynter Institute on legal issues related to blogging
• making members must demonstrate they have worked as professional journalists or undergone training.
• making members adhere to the organisation's ethical standards (which includes using their own names unless there are exceptional circumstances) and adopt formal editorial and corrections policies.

For bloggers the advantage of joining the MBA could mean they are more likely to get journalistic accreditation and access.

The MBA has some 1,000 members including such new media luminaries as Dan Gillmor and Jeff Jarvis.