One cannot be a member of the press. One can only have access to a press.
Any device which enables one to state and publicize ones views is a press, whether it be moveable type, offset, TV, radio, or the Internet. We all have free access to the press, meaning we have the right to pay any provider who wishes to sell us access to publicize our ideas.
Brilliant -- and well-expressed -- insight.
In other words, the pamphleteer Thomas Paine was the equivalent of a blogger.
Ah ooh ...
Thank you. By the way, the most famous pamphleteer of the American Revolution was Thomas Paine, who never made a living as a professional journalist.