In an experimental move last week, Google News added a feature that allows story interviewees to post their comments alongside stories from news organizations around the world, ushering in a new era of transparency in reporting.
Although this move may sound like the solution to inaccurate quoting and journalists with their own agendas, it also undermines one of the core reasons journalists exist -- to filter through the spin of interviewees with their own agendas.
The comment section will be heavily regulated, requiring interviewees to email Google with contact information and proof that they were part of the story. But it could still become a mess of public relations spin and irate subjects lashing out at journalists.
It also appears as though Google might have its own agenda in implementing this device -- ousting its main competitor Digg, with its user-powered aggregation system and comment section as the web's most democratic site.
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