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In case you missed it, I was quoted in a Jan. 11 dot Journalism article by Jemima Kiss, CBS sacks four after blogs trigger Rathergate. This story explored whether the firing of those executives was actually a constructive response to the journalistic fiasco.

Kiss did a great job with this article, it’s well worth reading. Of course, I had much more to say in response to her questions than she would ever have room or inclination to publish. That’s OK. She’s a good editor.

In case you’re interested, here are my complete remarks on the topic…

Has Rathergate affected the credibility and profile of blogging?

I think it has affected public awareness and perception of weblogging, though not actually the practice of weblogging. As with any kind of media, bloggers are a mixed bag. That’s true for professional news organizations too.

Actual credibility in news comes down to practices such as fact-checking, corroboration, verifying authenticity, gathering appropriate context, etc. Those tasks can – and should – be done by an independent journalist or writer (whether published ina weblog or other venue) as well as by a team of professional reporters and editors working for a mainstream news organization.

The perception of credibility is another matter. Too often in the media landscape, perceived credibility gets equated with the size of an organization. That’s a fallacy. Just because an organization has the resources to do excellent journalism doesn’t mean they will use them to that end in all cases.

Are bloggers seen as a new watchdog for the news industry?

I think any person or organization offering news or commentary is a potential watchdog on every other person or organization doing the same thing. That mutual watchdogging works in all directions in the media. now, not everyone in the media is willing to recognize that, but as far as I can tell that’s true.

Every journalist and editor is fallible. Believe it or not, we are human. Regardless of intent, everybody screws up sometimes. Even Dan Rather. It’s not necessarily about negligence or a hidden agenda. Journalism is exceptionally difficult work, and even in the best circumstances the best journalists sometimes make mistakes.

That’s why we need a diversity of news media and commentary with a diversity of perspectives – it’s a system of checks and balances that everyone in the media should welcome. Not all of them do welcome it, however.

Are blogs a reliable information source for journalists?

That depends on the blog. The question also implies that bloggers and journalists are different. I disagree with that assumption. Bloggers can be journalists, too. You might also consider, are traditional news organizations a reliable source for bloggers? It cuts both ways.

Was CBS right to dismiss (one way or another) four members of staff over this episode?

I’m not so sure about that, mainly because I don’t know how much those firings will affect actual newsgathering processes at CBS. In general, I think high-profile firings are mainly about public posturing and usually don’t affect day-to-day operations much. But there can be exceptions to that. So I guess my answer is: Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see.

Many news stories hinge on the authenticity of documents. It’ll be interesting to see how CBS handles such stories going forward – and indeed, how closely their media colleagues (including bloggers) watch this aspect of CBS’ reporting work.