I've long argued that gatekeeping is dead and that our new role is more akin to that of a guide, pointing out both truth and falsehood in a rich and open bazaar of information.
Today David Leonhardt of the New York Times plays that role as he takes on CNN's poseur-defender of the middle class, Lou Dobbs, citing his "somewhat flexible relationship with reality" and his habit of giving "airtime to white supremacy sympathizers," and declaring that "the problem with Mr. Dobbs" is not that he mixes fact and opinion, but "that he mixes opinion and untruths." Pointing to actual government health data, he debunks Dobbs' claim that "The invasion of illegal aliens is threatening the health of many Americans."
But it is worth considering that this debunking of Dobbs has been going on for weeks as an assortment of bloggers, activists and even Stephen Colbert fact-check Dobbs and find him wanting.
What's happening is an aspect of the general democratization of journalism. In a world where anyone can publish, anyone can step into the role of watchdog, if only for a brief moment. On those occasions where supposed professional journalists slip into the role of uninformed opinionmonger, we need that.