An interesting article. I wonder if we can apply its logic to OLO?

The depth of journalism comes only from the heart. And without feeling the moment and living what the eye sees, empty lives you have!
and nothing to show.

I think there is another aspect that hasn't been discussed. The net has democratised information and opinion sharing.

Most of that will be opinion formed in the jail of capitalist society, but nevertheless the range of opinions on OLO for example go far beyond what Rupert Murdoch or Fairfax allow on their pages. (I use newspapers as an example since that is my main source of immediate news. I assume local TV news is execrable, having occasional seen it with its car crashes and fights dressed up as daily reality.)

Not all the culling the mainstream media undertake can be because of quality. Paul Foot for example was a fantastic British journalist and socialist whom the odious Rupert Maxwell sacked.

Some of the culling occurs because the newspapers are part of the propaganda machine for capitalism as well as of course a cog in the exploitation of workers and the theft of the value they produce.

The net gives an audience to alternative ideas at the same time the mainstream media looks for sameness to appeal to search engine addicts. (As an aside my googling of events in Tibet so far has been essentially unsuccessful, but I predict in the next day or two something closer to the truth will come out through the net than what we get from the Chines dictatorship. Our own newspapers might even use that material or contacts to delve a little closer to the truth.)

Alternative ideas won't gain much traction in a period of reaction like the one we in Australia are currently in, when we have replaced Howard with HowRudd. Nevertheless our high expectations of Rudd and his dashing of our hopes may lead some to question the role of the ALP, and some will look to the net to find alternative views and answers.