Since 1993 when I first watched him as an angry student doing a cheerleading howl for Ralph Klein at the Alberta premier's first election call, Ezra Levant has been easy to dislike but difficult to ignore.

He has lived many high-profile lives as a maverick lawyer, Conservative candidate, Canadian Alliance communications director, defunct TV network host, author, defamation defendant and chronic trash talker of all politicians to the left of Stephen Harper.

'Journalist' is not a definition which sticks easily to the online The Rebel website's founder.

But when Rachel Notley decided Rebel staff were to be evicted from her news events because this premier decreed they were an invalid online media outlet, well, even Levant's detractors joined the rebellion.

Far from doing journalists a favor by evicting what she assumed was a hostile disruption from news conferences, Notley elevated The Rebel into an instant free speech crusade.

Journalists were forced to hold their noses and rally behind The Rebel, even though it has systemically and erroneously ridiculed all mainstream media as a monolithic pack of Liberal lovers.

As columnists piled into the debate and Twitter lit up with outrage, The Rebel gleefully sought to go viral in condemning the rookie premier as a bully, all of it designed to boost its fundraising efforts.

Fortunately, the mistake was quickly rectified and the Notley crew called off their misguided control freak move in about 24 hours.

But it has revived the debate on how to hold a news conference when the traditional definition of reporter has diversified into web news services, blogs and podcasts.

Perhaps the national press gallery, so despised by The Rebel, is the model to follow in all legislatures and city halls.

An executive elected by working journalists decides who is given government-recognized accreditation.

The litmus test is the applicant must report, interpret or edit parliamentary news for an organization which actually disseminates the coverage. And, yes, The Rebel is a member.

If nothing else, this showdown has reinforced the traditional independence of reporters from government in rapidly evolving non-traditional forms.

As for The Rebel, well, now that this rebellion over, it's 15 minutes of fame are up.

And that's the Last Word.