PRMan

PR Week’s front page this week reports that the House of Commons is mulling-over plans to give bloggers access to the Westminster lobby system. This means selected bloggers would have able to access certain parts of parliament attend off-camera briefings and access the Members’ Lobby.

Rejoice!  Finally Westminster appears waking up to the evolving media landscape and engaging further with new types of journalism. This would be great, if it was true. The trouble is it seems the parliamentary press gallery (PPG), who is lobbying for the change, appears to be applying old rules to a new world.

The important quote from is from George Parker, chairman of the PPG, that certain criteria should be met by bloggers ‘The general criteria we would agree with is that the person applying for the pass should be a proper journalist with a track record of journalism; that they should be operating for a respectable news organisation or website with a reasonably large number of subscribers of viewers; that they should be using the pass for the purposes of journalism, rather than coming in and commenting on stuff.’

Eh? Now of course they aren’t going to let any old bod into Westminster – I’m all for journalistic rigour and credentials of quality, reasoned writing. But the description of which how bloggers can make the grade sounds all too familiar – didn’t Mr Parker just describe a normal journalist?

Now I know a large proportion of bloggers are current or ex-journalists, in which case they will have little trouble securing their coveted lobby pass. But what of those that have no background in journalism…sorry you need to be a ‘proper journalist’ with a ‘track record in journalism’.  Where does this leave the numerous great political bloggers that have lived and worked in the blogosphere and nowhere else? For one Guido Fawkes, the respected and revered political blogger, might have trouble getting his pass, having no background in traditional journalism whatsoever.

It’s that clear trying to apply these old-style rules about what constitutes a ‘journalist’ and a ‘blogger’ simply isn’t going to work. Rules for entry need to be based on clearer guidelines that actually fit with the blogosphere – yes readers, yes reasoned and rigorous journalism, but not the spurious need for a real journalistic background. If this plan does go through, in the meantime let us hope they have a good think about how they rate merit, skill and worthiness.