I read stories from the New York Times and the Washington Post. I also read the LA Examiner, the San Francisco Chronicle, Slate, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, the Wall Street Journal, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Denver Post, the Scotsman, the Associated Press, Reuters, the Times (of London), the Guardian, Spiegel, Voice of America, the Economist, the Financial Times, CNN.com, NPR.com, USA Today, Xinhua, the BBC, France-Presse, Health Talk, Tech Central Station, and a ton of news sources you've never heard of – and I hadn't, either.

Am I some sort of speed-reading Superman? Am I paying exorbitant fees to my trash collectors for picking up a couple thousand pounds of paper each week? Do I have psychic powers? No, not at all. There's nothing special about me; I'm just a guy with an internet connection.

Well, that and I know what a blog is.

There's no way a mere mortal could run through all those news sources every day to find the stories I'm interested in. It would be impossible for me, on my own, to catch even ten percent of what I'd like to read. But I have hundreds (thousands, millions) of friends I've never met, all around the world, who sift through the news for me and find the stuff I like.

Better yet, these strangers add their own twist, their own comments, their own opinions. They make me smile, they make me cringe, but no matter what, there's always the hyperlink so I can click on over and decide for myself. I'm no longer beholden to what my local newspaper editor, or even my internet home page, thinks is newsworthy. The gatekeepers still exist, but they're swarmed by hundreds (thousands, millions) of gatecrashers.

What a brave, new world we inhabit on the internet. Unless, of course, you're one of the gatekeepers. And boy, are they mad.

Famously, the one of Columbia University's Gatekeepers-in-Training (or "GIT"), Steve Lovelady, has been in a war of wits with VodkaPundit's permanent co-guest-blogger, Will Collier. The results haven't been pretty – but they have been telling. I won't rehash all the arguments, but like a good blogger, I have provided you with all the links you need to decide for yourself.

But let's look at the results, shall we?

The "salivating morons" have so far claimed the heads of Trent Lott, Howell Raines, Dan Rather, Jeff Gannon, and Eason Jordan. Meanwhile, the GIT has confused Andrew Sullivan with his old boss Andrew Ferguson, inaccurately defended the defender of disgraced CBS News employees Dan Rather and Mary Mapes, and reduced himself to lashing out and accusations of lying.

Now would be a good time to point out that the case of Lovelady vs Collier is just one would-be gatekeeper against a solitary gatecrasher. There is only one Columbia Journalism Review. There are millions of bloggers.

We'll always need reporters – people with pens, notebooks, sharp eyes, and feet on the ground. Without those brave souls, there is no news.

But.

The velvet rope has been breached. The guest list has been torn to bits. People getting out of limos are forced to mingle with the guys driving Chevys. The bouncer is prone on the sidewalk. There's a very fashionable stiletto heel in his eye, and a Kenneth Cole boot on his belly. And a sneaker crunching his groin. And there are plenty more where those came from.

The party has been crashed.