The proliferation of online bloggers stands to threaten mainstream news agencies, the Washington bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal said Friday.

Jerry Seib, at Kansas University to receive the annual William Allen White Citation, said traditional media organizations need to do a better job explaining why their standards of objectivity make them preferable to some online sites.

Jerry Seib, Washington bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal and a Kansas University graduate, speaks to students about his career. Seib was in Lawrence Friday to receive the William Allen White Citation from the KU School of Journalism and the William Allen White Foundation.

“What an objective press can do that no one else can do is this: It can shine a light on dark corners of the world and do so with credibility,” he said.

Seib, a native of Hays, has worked for the Journal since 1978, when he graduated from the KU School of Journalism. He has worked in Dallas, Cairo, Egypt, and Washington, D.C., where he has been bureau chief since 2002.

His speech, in Woodruff Auditorium of the Kansas Union, drew about 250 people Friday, mostly journalists.

Seib said he’s concerned about the number of online bloggers who cater specifically to political agendas. For instance, he said, someone who believes John Kerry won Ohio during the 2004 election could find Web sites that support the view.

He said all who claim to report news have a duty to check out facts and present the information in a fair, balanced light.

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“Otherwise, they’re simply crusaders masquerading as journalists providing comfort for those who are not looking for the truth but for confirmation of preconceived notions,” he said.

Ann Charles, chairwoman of the William Allen White Foundation, said she was especially happy to give the award to a native Kansan. She said in a recent phone conversation with Al Hunt, Seib’s colleague at the Wall Street Journal and CNBC, Hunt called Seib “the most respected journalist in Washington, D.C.”

“For those of us here, there’s no doubt his unsurpassed sense of decency came from his parents, family and friends — from growing up in Kansas,” Charles said.