Stephen Baker of BusinessWeek’s Blogspotting blog notes that Mark Cuban’s posting of source material for a New York Times story sets the stage for a series of changes in journalism. The post to Cuban’s blog includes the NY headline, “Mark Cuban is Mad (Again). But Why?” Cuban says he isn’t mad, and publishes the entire email thread between him and the NYT reporter so readers can judge for themselves.

Ziff Davis writer Steve Berlind opened the door to this kind of transparency when he began his effort to publish complete interviews, but no other reporter I’m aware of has followed in his footsteps. It’s a natural next step, then, for interview subjects to publish the entire interview so readers can put the quotes used in context. It’s not exactly a new concept. I remember when CBS’ 60 Minutes did a story about Anheuser Busch, but had to agree that the interviews would proceed only if company cameras rolled alongside CBS cameras. The goal was clear: Any quotes taken out of context in the final story could be put back in context when the company released the original footage. But blogs make it easy for any interview subject to ensure his or her words aren’t misrepresented.

Baker notes another change that could result from the publication of complete interview transcripts. Currently, many bloggers rely on articles published in the mainstream media for their content. “But as more of the reporting gets published, bloggers will have access to more of the raw material,” Baker writes. “This will make it easier to write original stories of their own—alternative takes on published stories.”