Indie Games - Any Connection?

We've been talking a lot about the idea of a "citizen gamist," the newsgame equivalent of a serious political blogger who uses new media tools to present their own form of independent journalism on the Internet. The question has been raised whether the sector of the game development sphere we'll just label "Indie Games" for purposes of simplification might be fertile ground for the future production of newsgames.

The question we're tasked to answer is, "Do the kind of people who create indie games have any reason to move away from their personal interests and goals in order to join our cause of making more thoughtful, creative newsgames (than the ones that are currently available) that follow the principles of The Elements of Journalism?" This question has multiple layers. Who are these people making Indie Games? Are they a homogenous group, or are they largely fractured in philosophy and practice? What constitutes a more "personal" style when it comes to newsgames, and does this raise issues for journalistic transparency or verification? And finally, is it actually important that a newsgame creator ascribe to the values in The Elements of Journalism that we've found so helpful in our own studies here at JAG?