You are correct that degradation of "old media" has weakened their position. I would attribute more of that degradation to laziness, sloppiness and most significantly, pursuit of the almighty dollar. Fox news is the way they are because they are chasing a loyal audience, not because they have actual conservative convictions. The 24-hour news cycle also undermines the quality of sourcing and fact-checking, and the misconception that uncritically regurgitating positions advocated by "both sides" is balanced reporting represents physical and intellectual laziness now ingrained into much of the "old media" culture. All this does indeed detract from the value of these resources.

Really, though, the idea that blogs are the shining light probably represents the same kind of intellectual laziness as that "both sides" thing. Surely there are bloggers who pursue a certain level of quality in their efforts, just as there are still old media outlets that continue to do decent work. Nonetheless, the blogosphere on average represents a vast wasteland of uninformed opinion and conspiracy theories. When it lives up to expectations, the thing that old media has to offer is editorial standards. There is value to a separation of duties between reporting and editing. Even the best of blogs don't generally include that level of quality control. Certainly some bloggers end up fact-checking one another back and forth in a form of debate, but that happens out in the open, enabling the release of unreviewed information which can then be propagated and repeated ad infinitum even when debunked. A good editor can smack that sort of thing down before it ever gets out and does damage to the great pursuit of truth. When some of them realize that quality of information is the trump card of "old media," they will have the answer to their problems. The blogosphere and 'new media' will continue to have a role, but ultimatley represent a world of dubiousness at best.

Here's another wrinkle: couldn't a serious blogger who is unable to get an interview with a public official while a newspaper reporter gets the same interview accuse the paper of unfair trade, or restraint of trade? A reporter regularly uses their "credentials" to gain access, to get interviews. What exactly are those credentials? Their TPA membership, I guess. I inquired some months back as to the status of the TPA allowing freelancers or independent writers to join. The unofficial response I got was that they were finally getting to a decision on granting membership to the alt/weeklies like MetroPulse, and that they weren't even considering freelancers. Maybe things will change, but talk about being behind the times. Especially as newspapers shed more writers, more and more writers will become independent, and less will "qualify" as members of "credentialed" media; eg. they won't be working for a daily paper.

Talk about barriers to entry. It borders on restraint of trade.

The print media and eventually the broadcast/digital media were given first amendment protection, given their role in watching the operations of the government on all levels. However, many media outlets, local, regional and national, chose to park objectivity, abandon the watchdog role, and became cheerleaders and slanted news outlets, more focused on making the news rather than simply reporting the news and keeping a public eye on the happenings of the government. When the media abandons its role, which established its first amendment protections, there is no sympathetic audience which find any reason to bail out an industry which has failed miserably at what its essential role is.

Perhaps there is no greater model of this abandoned role than the Knoxville News-Sentinel. After the struggles of the Knoxville Journal Company, a publishing switcheroo, when the News Sentinel became the morning paper and the Journal became the afternoon paper, and eventually the death of the Journal, the News-Sentinel immediately parked all objectivity, followed Victor Ashe around as if he was some god given talent to public service (which he was not - see Knoxville Convention Center, Smokies Ballpark in Sevierville, Chattanooga Aquarium in Chattanooga, etc.) and became a spokesperson outlet for Knoxville City government and continued to lambast county government under Dwight Kessel. More recently the local rag has been a big follower of shenanigans in county government, faily miserably to do the necessary investigative reporting which usually accompanies misdeeds in public office and which usually preceeds the uncovering of these improper actions. The daily rag still hasn't bothered to ask anybody why Knox County taxpayers spent $5 million on an industrial park in Blount County under Mike Ragsdale.

In short, the journalistic standards for excellence were abandoned by the News-Sentinel (and probably Scripps as they entered the entertainment arena with HGTV, DIY, and the Food Channel) and the ongoing struggles of their newspaper, their lack of business, their lack of subscribers, their lack of advertisers, and their lack of relevance to the community are all too well deserved, given the manner in which they have conducted themselves over the past 20 year. I cancelled by subscription 10 years ago and continue to boycot businesses which let these people shill subscriptions at their front door. I doubt anybody would miss the news sentinel in print, in my opinion, it hasn't been there for a number of years in a journalistic standard worth buying.