"If you put out a product, and nobody wants to pay for it, you don't have a product."  David Simon

A debate is heating up on the topic of unpaid, or "Citizen Journalists."  This issue is whether or not citizen journalists are qualified to represent news to the public, and if the news they distribute has any inherent value.

Traditional newspapers such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Christian Science Monitor have gone to online-only editions.  Most existing print newspapers also have online editions, and those online editions are gradually opening up to include blogs, including non-paid blogs opened to citizen journalists with little or no experience and formal training in journalism.