It’s been some time since the first fashion bloggers jumped the shark and started to take seats from industry people – up until now, nearly every perceptive online personality would have felt push back from the industry, though for varied reasons. Fashion bloggers are arriving at events (particularly Fashion Weeks) in hordes; taking seats, drinking free bubbly, generally mobbing what has until fairly recently been a stately affair for the elite and rousing much annoyance from printed media.

Crowd journalism has assaulted the fashion world in every sense, and now the great debate of how to tame the green masses is taking place. Who should be allowed access? What criteria should they meet as a writer, and what qualifies an independent writer as a competent one? These are but a few questions event presenters and PR groups are now forced to tackle, and with no precedent and a wave of aggressive young opinionists banging at their door, things have gotten tense and resentment is growing.

Some may argue that print or corporate run media is the only legitimate form of journalism, to which I can’t agree (even if I subtract my own bias). The question is not which form of media is more appropriate, it is the level of journalism caliber to take under consideration. The heaviest mistake the world has made has been to hold bloggers to zero standards; anyone can have their thoughts published online, and therefore being published you are to be given credentials to certain events and taken as seriously as a professional.

Being a personality does not qualify as a credential. An online persona is usually quick to catch on, but with speed brings shallow attention and credibility. If a blogger is not writing to engage their audience in a manner beyond visual statements (think “what I’m wearing today” blogs), they are engaging in elementary communication and therefore cannot reasonably expect to be treated as equals to professional media.

This is not to say these sites have no value, they do, though on a completely different plane of industry relevancy and usage. Printed media holds writers to an editorial standard, and writers create to provoke thought and discussion; this is the very basis of media itself. If a blogger provides no, or so little written content that the reader must assume the majority of the blogger’s points, the piece is valueless.

Times are such that those vying for an event invite should not be insulted when media kits, writing samples, (etc) are requested of them. If one intends to apply for a job, one provides a CV and cover letter; applying for event credentials should be no different. Every label, designer and PR house must decide their own admission requirements; but once this is decided their acceptance creed will assist themselves working to create an effective pack of media which will ensure the label is profitable enough to continue as a business. When website stats and language caliber are called out, this eases the application process, and identifies those whom require more time to hone their skills.

If accreditation requirements are raised, the quality of product produced by these independents will be higher and the product will be [increasingly] polished, professional. Competition between independents will be healthy and inspire higher skills to become the norm; a state that will only increase individual and corporate productivity regarding all instances of blogger communication. Those who attack professionals for treating them as second class citizens should be appalled, yet take it on the chin and increase quality – get angry and prove that your website should have a presence at the event.

Not only will this practice increase respect of the blogging community that are included in events, but the creation of ego monsters will be avoided. Praise for content will be deserved, and these individuals will already be equipped to build their brand in the presence of professionals before they step into the spotlight.

At the end of all debates, a blogger’s website is about personal taste, spunk, and a quality product. If even one of these qualities are missing, it’s time to go back to the proverbial drawing board and can that sense of entitlement.