Are citizen journalists serving a "watchblog" function?

Surely many of you have heard of Mayhill Fowler's exploits, but if you haven't, check out Howard Kurtz's wrapup of the whole affair:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/09/AR2008060900373.html

Now that you're back, I was wondering what you thought of all this?

Being young journalists, we were mostly taught by baby boomers who worked during the old school days. I remember I was taught how to dummy pages on hard copy, even though I fully knew that Quark or InDesign would cover all that for me.

So I was wondering what your opinions are on "citizen journalism," a concept apparently being advocated by Arianna Huffington as well as Gannett Co. with their new online expansion into community sites. Did you think it was fair for Fowler to ask President Clinton about the "hatchet job" in Vanity Fair without even identifying herself or the media she represents?

Does it serve the public interest by ensuring that public officials and the like are held accountable for every word they say, even as an aside? Or does it contribute to the shrill volume of information being thrown out into the ether every day? Can it misinform? What are the dangers of untrained people doing what you and I have gone to school for and honed over several years?

I suppose the question can be looked at when framed in another occupation outside of our own.

Let's say your home is burning. The alarm has rung, and you know the firefighters are well on their way. The entire single-family dwelling is engulfed in flames, you're outsideand you're faced with a choice. Do you grab a garden hose or a bucket of water, and attempt to douse the flames yourself? Of course, you could lessen the damage but at the same time your lack of training could endanger yourself and others, as well as the already burning home.

Or do you wait around for the firefighters? By the time the trained professionals arrive at the scene to fight the fire, the damage could've already been done.

What should we do people? Do we trade in our press passes for garden hoses?