Mark Hamilton comments on criticism of Roch Smith, Jr. of Greensboro 101: "But Smith is right on at least a couple of points. Reporters and editors should extend to readers (their customers, and the customer is always right) the same courtesy they expect of their sources. And, secondly, reporters are members of the community and as such should be interested in presenting not their story but the story, as completely and accurately as possible. Listening to and responding to “critics” is part of that process."

Mark also covers events at the Northern Voice blogging conference.

Terry Heaton discusses New York Magazine's cover story on the blog establishment: "This article is absolutely true -- but only from a limited perspective. The hierarchy mentioned does exist. There are smart people manipulating the system for audience. This side of the blogosphere indeed parrots mainstream media, and it's what the MSM "feels" whenever it speaks of bloggers. . .

Here in Nashville, for example, we have a vibrant blogging community, and that's exactly what it is. We talk about the news. We talk about life. We talk about pets and sports and spouses and shopping and who's doing what to whom. I can think of only one local blogger whose goal may have been to make the A-list, and I think that's probably representative of the blogosphere as a whole."

USA Today looks at how newspaper publishers are trying to adapt to the times: "Executives throughout the industry, which generated an estimated $65 billion in revenue last year, are opening their minds to a host of ideas, including new paper publications, television and radio services, websites, podcasts and transmissions to cellphones..."

The New York Times on Gawker and PostSecret adding video: "Until recently, bloggers have been heard but rarely seen. But now two popular Web sites are considering moving into video..."

Editor's Weblog reports: "A task force of global and European publishers organizations, led by the World Association of Newspapers, has agreed to work together to examine the options open to publishers to assert their rights to recognition and recompense, and to ultimately improve the relationships between content creators/producers and news aggregators and search engines."

Mark Glaser at PBS's new MediaShift blog interviews Dan Gillmor on the future of the Center for Citizens Media: "It’s important to remember that the upheaval isn’t only about the traditional news organizations’ shareholders and employees. It’s much more about the readers/citizens — when I say 'readers' I include listeners and viewers, etc. — and serving their interests will be my overriding goal..."