Sophie, I think you are far too optimistic for the future of blogs. While they are bound to proliferate some more, I suspect that the bulk of those worth reading as stand alone "gentleman amateur" (excuse the sexism) efforts are already up, or at least will not increase in number although the writers may rotate.

There is no viable economic model at the moment for blogging as blogging, so bloggers tend to come and go, unlike the opinion writers for newspapers who have a financial incentive to stay. They also have a financial incentive to write well. If I write an op-ed I'll spend half a day on it, generally speaking, sometimes more. For a blog piece I budget no more than an hour, and less if I can get away with it. I'm often surprised at the quality of my own blogging, but if I spent three times the effort on it, and then had an editor go over it and refine it again, I know that it would be much better.

I'm also suprirsed that you think blogging will impact on radio rather than print. I actually get most of my news from radio as it's a cold medium I can have on in the background and where I garner the most information for the least investment of time. Newspapers reduce the ratio, and blogs reduce it even more, if not reverse it.

However I can understand where you are coming from with comment boxes. If I post and receive no comments I am lonely, but sometimes if I receive comments I can feel even lonelier, depending on their content! There is a continual subterranean struggle on this site to keep the comment box comments civil, and relevant.

Sophie,
You have mentioned the need for “the old journalistic virtues of thoroughness of research and investigative reporting” and I fully agree.

However we are now seeing much media develop into infotainment, where it becomes part information or fact, and part entertainment. Unfortunately I think far too much media is now in the entertainment area, (complete with gimmick, glitter, commercials etc) and facts or truth become as elusive as ever, even with so much media available. The bombing of Baghdad shown on some commercial TV channels, complete with Vangelis music playing in the background would be a gross example of infotainment.

I find the statement “the “old-media” combative world of the opinion column, not a place that’s proved particularly congenial to women, who generally tend to be less confrontational (if no less opinionated) in their approach to public issues.”, is quite confrontational in itself.

Perhaps it is true, but thoroughness of research, investigative reporting, search for truth etc, often require a combative or confrontational spirit, or we just end up with fiction as information, or we just believe everything that is in the media, just because it is in the media.

In Australia around 90% of newspapers are sold through newsagencies - a channel of 4,600 retail and distribution businesses established for this purpose. Almost all are privately and individually owned. The future of newsagencies as we know them is inextricably linked to the future of newspaper and magazine publishing and distribution - yet we are not part of the conversation about future models for mainstream media.

With the blogging phenomenon newsagents have an opportunity independently to claim territory in what is called the blogosphere. Newsagencies could create BLOG POSTS - an in store kiosk like PC where people can read or post - giving a bricks and mortar presence and therefore greater person in the street relevance for blogging. This fits with the movement citizen journalism where everyone is a journalist.

I see BLOG POSTS in newsagency stores as the beginning. They identify this old world bricks and mortar channel with the new movement. They provide a relevance for the 18-34 year olds who are shunning newspapers. They provide a starting point from which new traffic generators and business opportunities for newsagents can evolve.

Bricks and mortar businesses like newsagencies with rely on newspapers and magazines for more than 50% of their foot traffic can either look outside news and information for their future or embrace the opportunities of blogging and practically demonstrate their relevance in the emerging new world. Through BLOG POSTS in their shops newsagents would identify themselves as part of the future.

The big question is how newspaper publishers would react to this. A secondary question is how would those in the blogosphere react to such a relationship with a traditional media distribution channel.

I agree with a lot of what you say here but I think you're not right when it comes to the value of radio. I listen to it more these days and from more outlets because without vision you can focus on a discussion or report without distraction and, secondly you can have it the radio running (whether online or on air) while you surf. I like others gave up watching television so long ago because it was uninformative, unimaginative, uninteractive, slow, repetitive and boring. Blogs on the other hand are so dynamic and interesting that there is always something out there to disagree with!

Me too Ro, listen to lots of radio, music while I surf. Love blogs, learn heaps. Stir people up - v/easy here.
Go bloggers.

I think it is worth keeping an eye on Wiki's. The Wikipedia project (http://en.wikipedia.org) has been very successful, and they have recently spawned Wikinews (http://en.wikinews.org), which is slowly increasing the quantity and improving the quality of its content.

A wiki is not just a modified form of Blog, it is something entirely new: collaborative information creation, where for an idea to survive in an article there needs to be a consensus that the idea not be removed.