Monday Morning News

Bloggers' choice: Free agents, or infomercials? Mercury News
Microsoft's publicity ploy highlighted the growing influence of blogs (as well as other forms of digital self-expression, like audio podcasts and video clips), and a choice now facing bloggers: Do they intend to be a trusted source of insight and information for their readers, or merely the Internet's version of an infomercial? Though most bloggers don't consider themselves journalists, and lustily criticize what they see as the hidebound ``mainstream media,'' they need to consider adapting some of the ethics and disclosure practices that guide traditional print and broadcast outlets. Ultimately, cultivating those practices may enable them to develop a more transparent and accountable relationship with their readers than the mainstream media have ever had.

Bloggers Join Frenzy at Media-Saturated Libby Trial NPR
Journalists have descended en masse upon the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., to cover the trial of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff. But as the usual assortment of newspaper reporters and network correspondents clamor for their seats this week, bloggers join the ranks of journalists in the courthouse.

Can Online Papers Recreate a Joy of Print? Wall Street Journal
There's one common complaint I don't buy, however. And that's that an online newspaper can't possibly replicate the experience of paging through a traditional paper and having your eye alight on a story you wouldn't normally have read. The shorthand for this is "serendipity," and mourning its loss, struggling to recreate it or steadfastly defending it has become a ritual at every newspaper trying to navigate the wrenching transition between the print and online worlds. But here's the thing: Serendipity isn't lost online. In fact, many newspapers desperate to recreate it don't realize they've already done so.

VERY INTERESTING UPDATE LA Voice
I wonder how the folks at Tribune are taking this parody of publisher David Hiller's recent pronouncement that better management of LATimes.com is finally somehow important to the paper's survival: