That’s all well and good but the Net and Blogging is no panacea/solution to the suffering to others neither is the availability of information.
• That takes actions. To most people world rectification is simply someone else’s problem (SEP). We already know that Human rights in China, Nth Korea, Sudan, Burma and Gitmo et sec are appalling but do they change? No. and if they do it’s circumstantial and glacial.
• Most people don’t want to know they are too self involved with their lives e.g. the pensioner whose lifestyle depends directly or indirectly on investments; the consumer want more luxuries than they can afford so they go for the cheapest disregarding its moral pedigree.
• Are the bloggers competent to interpret or accurately disseminate technical information, complex issues? Or do they simply push their own agendas. As opposed to mainstream journalists are simply entertainers dealing in sensationalism and controversial to appeal to the lowest common denominator in order to sell advertising?
• Where is the quality control, the journalist’s ethics (sic)?
• If we pass all that how do we find what is real amongst the spin, self interest bias and simply inane? Do we as the great unwashed have the tools or ability to distinguish?

It seems to me that all this verbiage about the rights of the public to know and ethics is just that verbiage. In other words an attempt to give status to a means of providing money for something that is a responsibility of those with the luxury of living in a free society.

The role of dissidents is to affect change non-violently and rightly so. That is a function of the reformer and not to be confused with Blogging as a profession seeking special indemnities.

Benefits/power once gained are considered as Rights and will be ruthlessly enforced. Professional Blogging won’t change that any more than just exercising our human responsibility to take an active interest/involvement in the welfare of others.

Antony, Antony, Antony...
I saw you on TV a few weeks ago. Sad. Now you write this tripe; do you really think our hurly-burly rough and tumble public media debate is in the tank for the Establishment? I suppose it might be true, if you define 'corporate interests' as everyone except the Judaean People's Liberation Front Suicide Squad.

Two comments... in two weeks...