Joe Strupp of Editor & Publisher wonders why bloggers haven’t joined the White House Press Gaggle.

A better question might be, why haven’t others left?

What exactly does “covering” the White House bring any reporter, or news organization (regardless of size)? You’re not told anything you can’t get out of a press release. The media spokesman lies and stonewalls. This has been the case for decades. What most White House reporters do, when they're not being lied to in person, is sit on the phones, something they could just as easily do from somewhere else, maybe with bunny slippers on.

The more important question Strupp is asking is, how do bloggers gather news. It’s true, most start with the work product of the MainStream Media. But if AP or UPI refused to link we’d still have the press releases and TV reports. (The White House Gaggle often appears on C-Span.) What most bloggers try to do, it seems to me, is go beyond the basic report. Among our resources are the Web and e-mail. These are increasingly powerful resources.

It’s said by paid journalists that a blogger is someone who won’t make a five-minute phone call. That’s true, in many cases. It’s not true in others. Many bloggers use the phone regularly. But most journalists refuse to use online resources in their reporting. Who is hurt more by their failures?

There's another reason for the criticism of bloggers' phone use. A telephone call is a one-to-one event. The New York Times' calls are returned. Those of others aren't. This is a fact of life. So the criticism is in the end a tautology -- you're not legitimate because you're not me.

In the end this is one of those questions the market will decide, over time. The mainstream media may continue to limit access to their “raw material” – the reports they create based on being physically present in bullpens. Bloggers will continue to use their time as they see fit.

We’ll see who delivers a better product.