AP Wire Story on New MBA Policies

Anick Jesdanun for the Associated Press wrote a story that first appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, Group seeks professionalism in blogs

Cox is about to unveil new membership policies designed to help bloggers who see themselves more as journalists than freeform diarists... Among the planned criteria: Members would have to take an online course offered by the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, covering legal issues related to blogging.

Members also could seek credentialed status by undergoing training or demonstrating other work as professional journalists. They also must agree to the organization's ethical standards and adopt formal editorial and corrections policies. Doing so could give them the backing they need to obtain review copies of books and access to newsmakers and events, Cox said.

Of course, having credentials from Cox's organization won't guarantee access. The question of whether to treat bloggers as journalists has come up repeatedly at major events such as the Olympics and national political conventions.

Among others, the story also ran in...

The Indianapolis Star
Portsmouth News Herald
Yahoo Canada
San Diego Union-Tribune