After a series of exposes on VAT bill fakers was uploaded to mysansar.com in April, the Press Council sought clarification from the popular blog site, acting on a complaint.

The blog named an industrialist and also listed other tax defaulters. The personal assistant of the businessman filed a complaint, which led the Council, as is the practice, to demand a clarification. However, this time the answer was sought not from a mainstream newspaper but a blog site which does not fall under the Council's jurisdiction.

The Press Council Act of 1992 is silent on blogs and its code of conduct is not binding for bloggers. My Sansar, nevertheless, responded to the call and defended itself saying it had investigated a relevant story that the mainstream media dared not cover.

The case jumpstarted a discussion among bloggers about whether the Press Council can, or should, add blogs to its existing mandate. Blogger Ujjwal Acharya says that the Council's terms of reference can include blogs.

"Compulsory registration for blogs is against the standard norm. But the choice of registration with the Press Council should be left to bloggers, and this would also make them eligible to receive government ads," says Acharya.

Across the world, privacy and defamation issues are clashing with the free-for-all on internet sites, leading to calls for regulation. This is being fiercely resisted by bloggers and citizen journalists who say the mainstream press is seriously compromised by commercial bias and advertising pressure.

If Nepali blogging sites start accepting revenue from government ads, would they have dared to carry the fake VAT item? The national broadsheets did not touch the story, and bloggers may not either in future if they are beholden to government regulators or to corporate interests.

Mainstream journalists are prone to question the credibility of blogs, while ignoring the limitations to their own ability to cover certain stories. For example, the fake VAT bill story was largely ignored by the mainstream press, probably in order not to offend powerful advertisers, and the story was diverted to the resignation of Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal.

Few dared to point out the names of people and business houses involved, which included a CA member and a telecommunication giant. The discourse veered so much towards Khanal's honesty that the dishonesty of the businessmen involved was not discussed.

Nepal has no dearth of well connected business reporters, many of whom� have gone on to become editors in national dailies and weeklies. But it is rare to see stories of corruption in high places in their papers in which the Big Boys are involved.

Blogs like My Sansar were able to speak out only because they are not constrained by the market economy of media. Blogger and owner of My Sansar, Salokya says: "How this story is covered in my blog and the newspaper I work for are different. This alone proves the independence we enjoy in blogs."

The problem with blogs, however, is of a different kind. A CNN iReport on the VAT scam following the exposes by My Sansar provoked angry reactions from people for its racist undertones. Salokya's report on My Sansar was bashed for singling out a particular community and engaging in vindictive journalism. When personal biases seep in, they are no less insidious than slants planted by the corporate media. The only consolation with blogs is that the bias is too in the face for readers not to feel manipulated.

It may be tempting for bloggers to demand the privileges of a mainstream reporter: a press card, Information Department ads, membership to an umbrella organisation clearly divided along political lines (FNJ). But there is no free lunch, and the independence bloggers boast of could be compromised.

What would be the difference between the content in a blog and in a national newspaper if they operate under the same restrictive framework of the state?

Many bloggers are already doing better journalism than journalists, even without a press pass. Many don't like being identified as regular journalists, or with the kind of work the mainstream does.

Bloggers say they respond to a higher calling and adhere to values of independence, free expression and citizen vigilance. Blurring the line between citizen and mainstream journalism may obliterate independent voices that may sometimes overstep the bounds, but are more likely to strengthen democracy by protecting the public's right to know.