What Constitutes "Real Journalism"?

In 2013, the Senate Judiciary Committee attempted to pass a federal "shield law" that would protect journalists and their sources. 

However, the Democratic senator, Dianne Feinstein of California criticized the bill, according to this Common Dreams article, saying that she felt the bill protected Wikileaks and nonsalaried reports. "I’m concerned this would provide special privilege to those who are not reporters at all," she said. Another Democratic senator, Charles Schumer of New York, also mentioned WikiLeaks. "We’re very careful in this bill to distinguish journalists from those who shouldn’t be protected, WikiLeaks and all those, and we’ve ensured that," he said. 

In today's ever-changing face of journalism, saying that nonsalaried reporters and WikiLeaks aren't journalists is archaic. The history of independent media disproves Feinstein's statement because some of the most important contributions in the journalism world have come from nonsalaried reporters and indys (Take Josh Marshall of Talking Point Memo's expose of the firing of U.S. District Attorneys in 2006, for example). 

Also, WikiLeaks has blown the whistle on countless scandals and wrongdoings in the government over the past 10 years, and has acted as the "Fourth Estate"- what journalism is supposed to do. 

Additionally, since journalists do act as the Fourth Estate, it feels wrong for the government to be defining what "real journalism" is through a bill. Furthermore, independent media acts as the real Fourth Estate and nonsalaried reporters and WikiLeaks are included in that group. 

By discounting them as "not real" journalists, I feel that a bill like this could be used to discredit a journalist that reports unfavorably on a government official or a person of power.