I am sitting here at the WeMedia conference, and as a professional journalist, I of course have a degree in reading body language. It’s an incredibly important skill that all journalists are trained in. It’s what sets professional journalists apart from these amateurs. Look at the insightful analysis that the Washington Press Corps does everyday in reading the body language of our leaders. It’s essential to our role as the press in a democracy.

I’m sitting here watching someone several levels of bureaucracy above my head at the BBC, Helen Boaden. And she’s talking about blogs. Using that skill of interpretation of body language that only years of training have provided me as a journalist, I noticed that she was intensely uncomfortable when talking about bloggers and how they claimed the head of Eason Jordan of CNN last year. Bullying is what she calls it. But she’s bullish about citizen journalism.

Discomfort about blogs, but not about citizen journalism. Discuss.

(I’ll have to let Suw vouch for me that as an American I do actually have a sense of humour and sarcasm.)

UPDATE: Ms Boaden just said: “I want to know who checks the bloggers.” There’s a nugget for ya. WeMedia. More like US and THEM. And remember this, people who pay my bills. Just trying to prod us to be better so smile and breathe.