"those who care about the press"

Arianna:

As I got ready to watch Meet the Press today, the question in my mind was: how will Meet the Press deal with the issue dominating the thoughts of those who care about the press this Sunday? I'm talking of course about the long-awaited "full accounting" by the New York Times of its role in the Miller case and Miller's role in Plamegate.

After all, even though the accounts, one by the Times and one by Miller herself, are full of holes, it's at least obvious that the Times has taken a big first step in trying to deal with these facts: (a) the Times is a major news outlet, (b) the Plame saga is a huge news story, and (c) one of the Times's own journalists is a participant in the story.

That phrase "those who care about the press" intrigues me. It implies that the press is something more than just a business. It's not a job, it's a cause. Maybe that's why so many bloggers hold it in contempt. We don't see it as that much different from any other job, but it seems to hold itself in some kind of awe, as if only the anointed could ever be reporters. Too bad it's become nothing more than an "intellectual's" route to stardom.