Thanks to the fact that our dial is set to KGMI, a local news station apparently run by Republicans, I hear snippets from Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilley and Sean Hannisee(?) and their ilk before my hand reaches the off button.

Repeatedly, they say things like, "Pimply liberal bloggers are spewing lies about my candidate and the rest of the pinko commies out their are eating it up! They're evil blowhards with nothing else to do but spread vicious lies and rumors. Blogs are not journalism!"

And then I read something like this.

Hi.

It doesn't take much to be maintain a good set of journalistic ethics or to maintain your credibility. It's easy to report actual findings instead of vitriolic opinion. Especially when you're not worried about ratings. Sure, a lot of bloggers would love to have more readers, but their paychecks don't necessarily rely on their readership. So it seems they have the freedom to be honest.

It's better to be a muckraker than a bullshitter, in my book.

Ooh, and here's a similar article from a slightly different angle from a more established news source, just to prove that traditional muckrakers are out there doing the good work. Thanks, jade_kadir.