As I've probably already mentioned in this space - and certainly have done so elsewhere - I'm not a big fans of libel lawsuits, for obvious reasons. In my experience, they're usually frivolous and always wind up costing a publisher money in legal fees, even if dismissed at the early stages.

But I am a big believer in journalistic responsibility. There are libel laws and they must be observed. And in this changing media world, that should mean observed by everyone, including bloggers.

A state Supreme Court judge has decided not to dismiss a libel case filed by Kingston Mayor Jim Sottile against a local blogger. Here's Paul Kirby's account in today's paper.

The case will be decided on its merits or lack thereof. But even if it is eventually tossed, I hope it has gotten the attention of Internet scribes who either don't understand that their words matter, or somehow believe they're immune from being held responsible for what they write.