The results of the CBS news investigation into the airing of George W. Bush’s air guard memos has not only made news companies gauge themselves for bias and accuracy in reporting once again, but also added to the debate of where the blogosphere fits into the role of not only journalism, but the political process.

The Internet has moved to change what was once limited to the Drudge Report to a coalition of keyboard pundits. With the emergence of free, user-friendly software and Web space alongside other developing technologies such as RSS, blogging has risen from under the radar to a necessity. Both presidential candidates had their official blogs this past election, and major news networks have also started up their own as well.

And in typical Internet fashion, the bloggers have been well-received by the users. Not only is the content of every blog unique and personalized, but the grand variety available has allowed for the creation of a network that fills every single niche and minute interest. In a sense, the blogosphere as a whole has created a news network that puts traditional outlets to shame, covering everything under the sun in surprising detail while constantly updating in an easy-to-access format. Blogs keep the spirit of a free, unrestricted Internet alive, but their appearance has complicated the way our society thinks about the status of journalism.

Journalism has become traditionally regarded as the “fourth estate” that fills the role of a citizen’s check on the three branches of government, but now with the introduction of the Internet and more recently Web logs, things have grown a bit more complicated. Should blogs be inducted into the field of journalism, heralded as a “fifth estate” to check the checkers, or be completely discredited altogether?

Placing bloggers alongside reporters has met some resistance from the journalism field. Unlike traditional journalists, bloggers do not need any formal training or even credentials. Bloggers have challenged the idea that the field should be limited and specialized. Instead of clamoring for a job with a major network or paper, they purchase a domain name and set up their own independent entity where readership is only limited by bandwidth.

But perhaps what scares traditionalists more than anything is not that the barrier of entry has been lowered, but bloggers have moved into a realm where the ideas of accountability, fact-checking and accuracy do not necessarily have to apply or be enforced. The Achilles’ heel of the blogosphere is its own independence and freedom afforded to it by the Internet. If there’s no threat of being fired from your job, what’s to keep you from doing what you want?

And while many would condone the practices of bloggers, it should be noted that another danger has emerged from the rise of the Web journalist. What happens when the idea of original reporting changes for the big names in the business? Copy-and-paste practices from blogs to newspapers with little regard for verification can only hurt the news industry. Since bloggers enjoy unrestricted freedom, they can write without worrying about their biases – sometimes intentionally – slipping into the content they publish. The risk of Big Media using blog content as they would a stringer can be as dangerous as CBS’s scoop on the Air Guard memos.

For better or worse, bloggers will not stop posting, at least while their audiences are still around. Ultimately, the blogosphere will not bring down the networks, hijack the radio waves or stop the presses, but it will change the way we get the news and our ideas of what journalism is. We are entering an era where anyone from any side can call anything news without fully knowing what the definition is anymore.

The truth might be able to multiply with the speed of the Internet, but so can lies. In the end, it must be you and I who watch the watchmen.