We the people.

I take exception to the comments in USA Today by Rem Rieder, editor and senior vice president of AJR, in response to the CNN/YouTube debate, in which he claims, "Personal questions are fine as part of the mix but certainly no substitute for questions from professionals about important issues." This mind-set underscores the arrogance of media people who fear they are becoming marginalized in today's tech-savvy world. Bloggers are generating bigger headlines than many conventional media types, and the voice of the individual grows in strength as the common man realizes he does not have to count on media filters to form an opinion. I've got a newsflash: We the people are the professionals, sir. We the people built this country, and we the people will decide what the important issues are.

JOE SPENCER

Columbia, South Carolina

Please send comments to Letters to the Editor, AJR, 1117 Journalism Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-7111; fax them to (301) 405-8323; or e-mail to editor@ajr.umd.edu. Include a daytime phone number.

Letters may be edited for clarity or space.