If you read his blog, I don't know how you could possibly classify Gruber as someone who does "reporting". It's quite clear that he is not your traditional reporter nor does he ever claim to be one. His pieces are personal opinion pieces with a personal voice. Whether his opinions jibe with Apple or with the anti-Apple crowd is besides the point. What matters is that his voice is authentic and provides unique insight into the world of Apple (not always but often enough) - which is more than what you could say for many other blogs covering Apple or any other technology company.