Journalism and the Internet

The juxtaposition is delicious — and instructive.

The Register, a superb online technology news site based in London, reports that CeBIT, the huge German technology trade show, is treating online journalists as second-class citizens.

But it was The Smoking Gun, a Web site, that broke some major news — that the “groom” in the sleazy “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?” TV show had some nasty stuff in his background, namely a threat to kill an ex-girlfriend and a subsequent restraining order against him, according to court documents.

CeBIT does have a problem if it issues credentials to everyone calling himself or herself a journalist. Who’d pay to get into the show, after all?

Sports events have been banning online journalists from press boxes, meanwhile, for much the same reason.

The dilemma is real. But the issue won’t go away — and neither will online journalism. It’s here to stay folks, and some of it is very, very good.

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