Blogging is still thought of as writing a personal diary and not something to waste time on by many people. There are still offline journalists and reporters who believe blogging is just a trend that will pass.

Dan Rather might beg to differ and many news organizations have either tried to adopt blogging or at least now know they have to take blogging seriously.

Bloggers were laughed at when they called what we do “journalism” or “news” and mainstream media only recently acknowledged bloggers as commentators at least.

But the Federal Government doesn’t seem to deny that bloggers are journalists or news sources after all;

FOIA reform: Bloggers are journalists, too
By Nate Anderson of ARSTechnica.com

It’s not every day that a senator takes to the floor to defend “Internet blogs and other Web-based forms of media,” but Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has done just that in his recent push to pass a Freedom of Information Act reform bill he has coauthored with two Republicans.

The Senate passed the OPEN Government Act last week (which builds on previous reform attempts), and the House followed suit on Tuesday of this week. The reforms in the bill make it easier for bloggers and other Internet journalists to make FOIA requests without paying fees, and they strengthen deadlines for agencies to respond to requests. Contractors who work for the federal government are now explicitly covered by FOIA rules, and a new FOIA Ombudsman will help resolve disputes outside of court. The legislation awaits President Bush’s pen.

FOIA has always exempted journalists from paying fees to access government records (other citizens and companies are charged for search time and duplication of documents), but the rise of the Internet has made it more difficult for government agencies to decide if someone is a legitimate “journalist” or not.