"Congressman: Demise of old media mostly for better"

I don't fully agree with this, but it's an interesting perspective coming from a congressman:

A Colorado congressman [Jared Polis] told bloggers that they and other new media are responsible for the demise of the Rocky Mountain News and other traditional news outlets, and that the change is mostly for the better. He later apologized.

[...]

"I have to say, that when we say, 'Who killed the Rocky Mountain News?' we are all part of that, we truly are. For better or worse, and I argue that it's mostly for better," the Democrat said.

"Media is dead, and long live new media, which is all of you," he said.

Polis also said at the event that bloggers and citizen journalists carry a new responsibility since they're part of the reason for the demise of other news outlets.

"We can't just kill it and walk away," he said. "It's important for all of us to reach out to some of those ... on the other side and present the progressive point of view," he said.

Several points.

1. "We" didn't "kill it." To the extent that the old, legacy media is becoming a...well, "legacy," it's mostly their own fault. Let me list a few reasons: infotainment (e.g., shark attacks, "missing white girls"); superficiality (e.g., "horse race" coverage in politics); "on the one hand, on the other hand" faux-unbiased "reporting;" cutbacks in international news coverage; cutbacks in local news coverage; the decline of journalism in the interest of citizens; the rise of media by the corporations, of the corporations, and for the corporations; highly questionable/disgraced reporters (e.g., Jayson Blair, Judith Miller); etc., etc.

2. The business model for traditional media - pages and pages of ads in the "dead tree" edition - was killed by a combination of factors, including the rise of Craigslist and, now, the horrible economy. Why would anyone pay good money to place a classified ad in the Washington Post anymore, when you can put it on CraigsList for free (and with photos)? Got me.

3. The rise of blogs and citizen journalists came about in part as a reaction to the decline and deficiencies of "traditional" media, but also as a result of the decreased barriers to entry - technological and cost - of starting up one's own blog or website. That wasn't anyone's "fault," any more than the demise of buggy whip manufacturers was the "fault" of internal combustion being invented. Technology changes, life moves on, you either adapt or die. It's brutal in the "nature red in tooth and claw" sense, but that's life.

With all that said, I continue to hope that the "traditional media" will figure out a way to revive itself before it goes the way of the dodo bird and dinosaur. As many problems as I have with "journalism" as it's been practiced in recent years, I DO believe we need reporters like Bob Lewis and Warren Fiske covering Richmond full time, bringing their institutional knowledge to bear, and helping us all know what's going on in the "corridors of power." Bloggers, for all the good (and bad) they can do, aren't necessarily at that point yet, and they most likely won't be unless/until there's a business model that allows them to do what they do full time. So far, we're not even close, with a few exceptions like Daily Kos, Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, and a few others.