Dean paid bloggers

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Daily Kos and another blog received $3,000 (U.S.) a month for four months from the Howard Dean campaign.
The story reports that both bloggers disclosed at their blogs that they received funds from the Dean campaign.
The Journal's story began with a post by Zephyr Teachout, who worked on the Dean campaign.
Neither The Daily Kos nor MyDD, though, contains disclosures now about how they pay their bills, something I think is important if you want your views on whatever issue to be taken seriously.
The guy behind the Daily Kos, it should be noted, received hard-to-get press credentials for the Democratic National Convention, the same kind of credentials normally reserved for those who are not being paid by the politicians they are ostensibly reporting on. The guy behind MyDD quit his blogging while he worked for the Dean campaign.
Now, it's one thing for bloggers like Kos to provide a forum for political discussion but it's quite another to be given press credentials when the group accrediting you is the group paying you. Dozens, if not hundreds, of other independent journalists and bloggers had their applications for credentials to this event refused. I wonder what those who couldn't get credentials think of the Democrats for credentialling someone who was on Dean's payroll.
Some Kos fans are, erm, a little hot under the collar about this whole issue. Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, has some good discussion, as well, around this issue.
But whether you agree with Kos politics or not, what did he and his supporters think would happen? Bill O'Reilly, Bob Novak and other political opponents of Kos' worldview were bound to impugn his ethics and accuse him of being on the take.
Here's a response, from Teachout's blog:

How about a dislaimer or graphic that says I can be bought and have been. Then folks would know what they are dealing with. For a graphic I might suggest a hand out, palm up. Or a makeup laden lady of the night, her lips puckered and a eyebrow raised. We would then know the blogger is interested not in just donations, but bribes as well. It could become the latest thing in copy cat blogging protocol.

Daily Kos has lots to say on his site about this as do his readers/contributors.
Jerome Armstrong, who is behind MyDD, also has an explanation/thread on this.
This, incidentally, is not an issue about politics. This is an issue of vital importance to the craft of journalism and the challenge to that craft from bloggers. Readers need to know who pays the bills or how the bills the get paid.