One problem journalists have with blogging is it does away with gatekeepers.

Printers are gatekeepers. They cost money and make you think before you publish.

Editors are gatekeepers. That's their job. They assign stories and edit them carefully so you don't mispel words.

Publishers are also gatekeepers. Traditionally their role has been to shield the poor, innocent journalist from the nasty world of business.

Mark Glaser of OJR examined this today without reaching any conclusions (as good journalists are taught to do). (The recent picture of Nick Denton is from the OJR story.)

Glaser interviewed three people whose blogging companies seem to be bringing in bucks -- Denton (of Gawker, Wonkette, etc.), Jason Calacanis (of Weblogsinc) , and Rafat Ali (of Paid Content) -- about how they pay people who work for them.

By the month, said Calacanis. By the story, said Ali. By the reader, said Denton.

Shock! Shock and dismay, responded the folks at Slate and Salon, representing the traditional industry.

To which I respond, huh?

Journalists have always been paid based on their popularity. Always.

Dan Rather was paid based on popularity. Art Buchwald was paid that way. How do you think Ben Franklin made money for his writing?

That's how people in this business get paid, for gosh sakes! They either get paid based on their personal popularity, or based on the popularity of the organ they are working for.

This is the journalism business.

So what's with this wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth? It's because Denton makes the link slightly more explicit. Top bloggers are getting reports on their traffic. They're being shown why they are making what they are making.

This is precisely how the journalism business used to be. A byline got popular, and the writer was poached by a bigger publication, or recruited to a bigger city. A big city writer got popular and was given a column, then a syndicate.

It's not a one-to-one correspondence and never will be. Those publishers who learn how best to exploit their traffic will be able to pay more to writers, per reader, than those who fail in this. Others will take the lessons of successful blog publishers and offer bonuses to their top people even before the switch. (This was a major plot point in Citizen Kane.) (Buy the DVD. I get a cut of the action.)

And that's how blogging becomes a business.

Celebrate it.