While other media have been in a feeding frenzy over the state House of Representative's restrictions on online journalists, I've been missing in action. I apologize; part of it is that others beat me off the blocks and stayed well in front, so perhaps with excessive vanity, I concentrated on other things. Bottom line: I've shirked my responsibility.

But man, I'm not alone. Consider who else has come up short here:

Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Madame Speaker, you're supposed to be a new generation of politician, upon which a gubernatorial campaign might be built. But you look like a back-room hack on this one. Yes, your aides have done outreach, and you've expressed sympathy for a mainstream journalist who got tripped up in asinine new photo restrictions (since withdrawn).

But while Senate Majority Leader Tony Sertich has drawn most of the fire, at the end of the day, you run the joint that so far looks policed by Keystone Cops. You know the online folks leading this effort are legit, and that they'll accept rational restrictions based on decorum and space, not medium.

The Democratic Party is all about participation. But rather than open the door and deal with rageaholic partisans if they abuse decorum, you preemptively close the door and exclude legitimate inquiry.

Your office has a good grasp of what needs to be done. So implement it.

Mainstream news organizations. Boy, your noses got out of joint when the House tried to restrict privileges you already enjoyed, but where the hell were you when new media journalists tried to get a seat at the table? Nowhere. To update Pastor Niemoller, "First they came for the bloggers ..."

I get that front-line reporters don't want to lobby those they cover. (Though for many, that didn't seem to be a problem when their personal ox was gored). I get that you want to avoid the Star Chamber quagmire of deciding who gets credentials, as Capitol reporters do in other states. I get that you may not want to go as far as some new media types do.

But as the 2008 campaign, the recount, and session so far have proven, the journalists spearheading the effort are deserving colleagues. If you can't speak out, you owe it to them to badger someone in your organization who can — editor or executive.

And newspaper editorial writers: if I read another Freedom of Information Day editorial or bold declaration for Iranian press freedom before you weigh in on a matter where you can really make a difference, shame on you. Maybe you're as disdainful of the rabble as some House members. Fine; say so — anything that brings this public debate to light. But don't just sit on your hands.

MinnPost. For some reason, my online-only organization been AWOL on this as well. From what I can gather, we're not all that into House floor access, and there may be some trepidation about being part of an organized effort. Maybe we've all been too busy. But like the dailies, we either need to get involved or let our readers know why not.

I would be remiss if I did not ding readers who love their online-only outlets, are aware of the fight, but haven't called their legislator. If you need some background before picking up the phone or emailing, check out places such as Minnesota Independent, the Society for Professional Journalists, MPR's News Cut or Minnesota Democrats Exposed. You can also click here.

I'll leave you with this statement from The Uptake's Jason Barnett:

"Freedom of the press" is a citizen's freedom more than simply the freedom for professional organizations and their employees. Citizens attempting to record at the State Capitol should be protected as "press" as is any media organization, and should not be prevented from recording proceedings as long as they conform with the regular rules of decorum.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was written to protect the activities of pamphleteers, not professional journalists, nor media organizations as they were not yet developed in a significant way at that time. The modern equivalent of pamphleteers are citizens who maintain and distribute their own journals — i.e. bloggers (citizen journalists etc.) Modern equivalents of the printing press include the video camera and the internet.

If the Minnesota Capitol building is "our House" as they say at the beginning of every tour, then the public should be able to access and record (using whatever tools they need) from the proper areas citizens are allowed — any public area. Anything less denies citizens their constitutional right and creates a government that is less instead of more transparent.