On the way to a family gathering today, my son and I were talking about Howard Dean and the media attacks. "Mom, these people really don't get it," he said about the Beltway pundits. "They're already obsolete and they don't even realize it."

I agreed. I told him the journalism establishment's attitude toward the Internet and blogging reminded me of the early days of "underground radio" in the 60s, when FM stereo was an oddity and no one saw any commercial potential. So hippies moved into the void and provided a new way of presenting music that soon turned into an economic powerhouse. Yet at the time, no one ever believed AM radio would be relegated to second-class status. Everyone who "knew" the industry pooh-poohed the possibility.

They can't really control information anymore. Yes, some of it may eventually dry up; more news sources are trying to limit themselves to subscribers, but I think it's a mistake. The bottom line is, the buzz is online. Anyone who's a regular blog reader understands that when you see stories covered on CNN a week after you first read about them, and CNN is still treating them like breaking news.

Because it's not just about the stories. It's about context and analysis. For instance: How many cable news talking heads are putting the mad cow disease stories in perspective? If average citizens knew that the USDA rarely makes random, unannounced inspections, do you think they'd be interested?

Yeah, I thought so.

And if that same story talked about a consistent pattern of de facto de-regulation through non-enforcement, do you think they'd still be interested?

Yep.

The traditional media is dead. They're like chickens with their heads cut off - still moving but dead. The information hasn't caught up with their brains yet.



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