We're early in the rise of of semi-pro journalism but we're well into the decline and of an old way of life within the tribe of professional journalists. I call them a tribe because they share a culture and a sense of destiny, and because they think they own the press-- that is theirs somehow because they dominate the practice.

The First Amendment says to all Americans: you have a right to publish what you know, what you think. That right used to be abstractly held. Now it is concretely held because the power to publish has been distrubuted. Projects that cause people to exercise their right to a free press strengthen the press, whether or not these projects strengthen the professional journalist's "hold" on the press.

A panel this afternoon on "The Rise of Semi-pro Journalism" featured NYU's Jay Rosen, conservative commentator Amy Holmes, and Mayhill Fowler. Fowler, you might know, is the OffTheBus contributor who has made news recently for two big scoops: capturing Barack Obama at an "off the record" fundraiser making comments about "bitter" Americans and Bill Clinton on a South Dakota ropeline tearing into Vanity Fair's Todd Purdham. So it was interesting to hear Fowler call for some agreement among bloggers about when reporters themselves can't be reported on.

Here are my notes for the talk I'm about to give at Politics Web 2.0 on "The Revolution Will Be Networked: How Open Source Politics is Emerging in America.” (Caveat emptor, your experience may vary.)