Joshua Greenbaum writes a thoughtful piece on the clash of the “new media” (blogs, wikis etc) with the mainstream media. He correctly concludes that revolutions rarely go in the directions that are originally intended, and he comes down on the side of the mainstream media camp, who he predicts will subsume the newer media. I agree with his analysis. It is exciting to see new content appearing in blogs on many subjects, but if you actually want to know whether something is true you’d be advised to look at the BBC or CNN. It is positive that the barriers to entry to creating content have dropped away, but media brands will be critical in ensuring reliable, truthful content, as distinct from individuals just spouting off on their latest hobbyhorses.

In fact very few industries have been really demolished by the internet. I heard that there are 10% less people working as travel agents than a few years ago, but there aren’t too many others that spring to mind. Even that despised breed, realtors (estate agents in the UK) who essentially just control privileged information, are still very much in business. If the internet couldn’t displace them, what chance does it have with journalists?