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"There was a time in the early and mid part of the last century when a lot of Unions were formed.  The Industrial Revolution had fully taken its toll, and a good amount of regulation was needed in order to institute certain safety and health practices.  It was a matter of economic stability, quality of life, and corporate responsibility.  \nFast forward a few decades, and the country finds itself lacking good TV, in the midst of a writer's strike.  Several writers have turned to the Internet for solace, but will it be found in this certain Wild West?  A blogger over at the Columbia Journalism Review named Chris Mooney seems to think that the Internet isn't really all that Wild anymore, but is definitely headed Westward.  \nI can agree with most of his points.  The Internet has found itself ripe with publications that are stealing market share from traditional media printed publications as well as their own websites.  The very act of citizen journalism has had an interesting intersection with traditional media, to say the least.  While some blogs get acquired by traditional media companies in their effort to remain freshly ahead of the curve, and successful stand-alone blogs create an institution in their own right, a degree of regulation, even if it's unspoken, is bound to occur.  \nBut does that institution need to be physically erected?  \nWhat Mooney suggests is that we may one day see the creation of a bloggers guild.  It seems so unlikely, but I'm sure the screen actors guild seemed unlikely as well, considering the very new niche that screen actors had carved for themselves (utilizing technology).  But do bloggers need a guild?  I don't even know who they'd strike against, should things ever come to that. \nAs Mooney likens the current direction of bloggers to the writers that are currently on strike, I can't help but think of all the ways in which bloggers are different from the writers on strike, especially in terms of their respective situations.  The strife currently being experienced by the striking writers is a direct result of old media's struggle to cope with Internet distribution, monetize it, and make everybody else happy at the same time.  Bloggers, on the other hand, seldom have any old media strings pulling at the direction of their careers, and especially their compensation. \nThere are a few things that need to happen before the Wild West of Internet bloggers is completely lost to old media.  The definition of a professional blogger will have to be agreeably created, old media will have to completely absorb all blogging as an industry, or the blogging community will need to establish an actual institution of its own.  In the case of Mooney's article, most of the fighting a bloggers guild would need to do would also be against old media, for the purpose of gaining more rights.  But I'm not sure bloggers quite need a guild for this.  Their support comes in the form of ad reps."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2008/01/18/bloggers-guild/>