Who will do a better job of covering the conventions?

The LA Times carries another wrongheaded commentary about bloggers at the conventions, from someone who should know better: Alex S. Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

In a piece titled, "Bloggers Are the Sizzle, Not the Steak -- Convention seats do not turn Internet gossips into journalists," Jones gives a grudging nod to the idea of inviting bloggers to have a seat at the table, but makes it clear that they are not to be mistaken for the hallowed professionals who practice journalism for mainstream news publications.

Jones huffs:

Bloggers, with few exceptions, don't add reporting to the personal views they post online, and they see journalism as bound by norms and standards that they reject. That encourages these common attributes of the blogosphere: vulgarity, scorching insults, bitter denunciations, one-sided arguments, erroneous assertions and the array of qualities that might be expected from a blustering know-it-all in a bar.

Jones also props up the myth that legions of bloggers want to replace mainstream journalists, when what they really want is to be brought into the conversation.

Mr. Jones, perhaps it's time to step outside your big media hub and see what's really happening in the blogosphere, where the democratic ideals this country was founded on -- robust debate, dissent, and a refreshing, free-flowing exchange of ideas -- is on display every day, if you only knew where to look.

I fully expect the credentialed bloggers at the convention -- including Jay Rosen, Dave Winer, David Weinberger, Rick Heller, Taegan Goddard, Kos and others -- will do a much better job covering the conventions than the cliche-driven, formula-riddled mainstream news media will do.

Later: Sean Bonner has some thoughts on this worth checking out. Jay Rosen also chimes in, as does Jessie Taylor.