IN THE SUNDAY TRIBUNE, JOE BLOGGS covers items raised by Tom Raftery, Damien Mulley, Alan Connor, Twenty Major, and United Irelander. Excerpts follow.

WONDERING WHETHER FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNTS qualify as journalism, Amy Gahran addresses a question raised by Irishblogs. You don't have to look far--glance at top-of-the-hour Sky News coverage often includes video clips sent by viewers to [email protected] for minor post-production and timely transmission. Steve Outing has noticed how some "news organizations let sources tell the story without the added voice of the journalist interjected". In Europe, it's Sky with its finger on the cameraphone pulse. In the States, it's ABC News with its "First Person" segments. Outing explains, These are news segments where you don't hear the reporter's voice; the voice you hear will be only that of the source of the story. A journalist may be filming, but he/she stays in the background".

FROM THE IRISHBLOGS GROUP comes a yet-another withering statement from John McCormac about the relevance of today's newspaper commentators. McCormac points at it plainly: "The talking heads that fill the space between adverts in newspapers are now more irrelevant than ever before that irritates newspaper publishers. The publishers might have to fire these bozos and get real, expensive copy to replace them". In one quick quip, jmcc reduces the waffling masses to fish wrapping paper.