An interesting debate over at WebProNews, following publication of the NYTimes’ article looking at new hyperlocal news models. Chris Crum asks: “‘What separates a blogger from a journalist? I’ve seen plenty of credible and non-credible bloggers, as well as credible and non-credible ‘journalists.'” A range of views follow his post.

Particularly interesting is a comment from Editor&Publisher columnist Steve Outing – claiming that he was quoted out of context in the original NYTimes’ article: “It appears to contradict what I believe, which is that for many niche-topic bloggers, they know far more than the journalist who’s parachuted in to cover a story without being an expert,” Outing writes, as part of a longer comment at this link.

[NB – Outing made a similar point via Twitter yesterday]