"Internet bloggers have bagged some big pelts in recent months. They took down some experienced producers at CBS News' '60 Minutes' and may have accelerated anchor Dan Rather's retirement over a questionable pre-election story about President Bush's National Guard service.

"And Eason Jordan, the chief news executive of CNN, resigned after bloggers recounted remarks he apparently made in Davos, Switzerland, that the U.S. military was targeting journalists in Iraq.

"The triumph of the bloggers illustrates the revolutionary rise of the Internet, which is undermining the traditional media in many ways," Gold wrote.

But, before bloggers open graves for newspapers, TV, radio and magazine news, Gold wrote, "professional journalists still do a better job than anyone else of informing the public about the most important events of our day. And it's vital to our democracy that we continue to do so, warts and all."

Bloggers, Gold wrote, are largely unpaid and many are amateurs - meaning they do not have to meet professional standards in making accusations and framing their opinion.

To meet standards, Gold said, "Reporters need to work the phones constantly, contact old sources and meet new ones, pore over documents, follow breaking news over the Internet, pursue tips, do searches to gather new facts and then ultimately write or produce a story that tells readers or viewers something they don't already know. Oh yes, and meet impossible deadlines, too. . . . If they work properly (which, of course, they don't always), these professional standards become checks and balances, preventing rumors, accusations or thinly veiled political screeds from being reported as fact."

After Gold predicted that bloggers will enjoy a mere 15 minutes of fame, he wrote:

"Journalists are human, and hence fallible. Like any other profession, we have our share of rogues, clock-punchers, envelope-pushers and downright incompetents. We should welcome exposure of our mistakes and be fully accountable to our audience.

"But in a polarized country facing difficult challenges, the public needs our skills, experience and most of all our professionalism to give them the vital information they need to make good decisions about their lives and our nation's future."

I don't know that I have read a better expression of these sentiments.

Lively meeting: The Salt Lake Tribune maintains an "open meeting" policy on its afternoon news huddles. Individuals and groups can call me and I will arrange for you to come and visit us as the editors decide what is going on A1 and the Utah front page for the next day.

At this time, however, groups should be 10 members or fewer. The conference room at our Main Street location is small and that's about the limit to what we can accommodate until we move in the spring.

On Thursday, however, we inadvertently broke the size limit when we had a group of 20 senior citizens show up for the 4 p.m. meeting (We expected eight to 10.) Most of the editors had to stand during the meeting, but the discomfort was worth it. The visitors were engaged and full of questions - and they all were lifetime subscribers to The Tribune.

78

Readers who think sports stories belong on the Sports page.

18

Readers complaining about advice columns.

4

Readers who think The Tribune is "boring."

Readers who want to know where the "no burn" alerts are.