My how things have changed.

The mainstream media, including plenty of my co-workers like to take shots at bloggers. The belief is that bloggers are irresponsible biased writers who put out information without fact checking their information.

The mainstream media needs to be aware that times are changing and you can’t throw stones when you live in a glass house. The bloggers have broken big stories and the National Enquirer has muddied the waters of the tabloid world by emerging as a source of real news too with its exposure of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.

As a consumer of information in the digital age you need to separate the garbage and find sources that deliver quality information, whether it’s a blog or a news site quality information is the ultimate guide.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer made the mistake of reporting the death of influential U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Cleveland, attributing it to unnamed sources. The PD not only posted the story, they put up an obituary and a condolence book. Other news organizations – although not The Chronicle – followed suit.

We sat here in the newsroom watching the wire and waiting for a press conference, we resisted the urge to post a story on the site until we got information from a named source. The news on the Web has the same value as the news on the printed page, the desire to beat everybody to the punch can make for embarrassing situations.

It just has to be right.