Yes, guilt by association is easy, especially when you are a billionaire. I am not sold.

I do buy into the idea that journalists can shed a lot of the institution to the betterment of the fourth estate. And, if Omidyar is sincere about what he is proposing (at least to the extent that I understand it), then it could ameliorate the issue raised by Lowell Bergman:

"What has been adjudicated and established in the wake of Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement is the ability of the press to basically write or broadcast almost anything about the government.There's very few restrictions in that way. It's not true when we're talking about private power, especially major Fortune 500 corporations, or people worth more than, say, a billion dollars."

...which is a very serious problem.

That said, I personally believe it has to go further than that. The readership must play a role that includes the same kind of risk. NSFWCorp has taken a major step in that direction with their funding tower, and the ability that you have to unlock articles to those you deem worthy (thank you). But, we are in the age of the semi-professional reader/commentor, and almost no one recognizes it for what it's worth, although I am guessing that you do. I would love to convince Omidyar of that.