Nice, if slightly confused, attempt to put bloggers in an adjacent box to Soviet media though.

could be replaced by collective, communal reporting by engaged citizens, especially in the third world.

The difference being that the 1970's  your average engaged citizen couldn't lay his hands on, or get access to a printing press.

I expect that the internet news system will shake out in a few years to be something very different from the rather idealistic version sketched by your readers.

It would be interesting to know where he thinks things will actually end up.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

I expect that the internet news system will shake out in a few years to be something very different from the rather idealistic version sketched by your readers.

One, Charles Bremner is now dealing personally with a new internet news system - that may work or not. He "expects" that times will change.

Does he think so because he's experiencing the change right now or what is to be expected that could shatter our idealistic take on internetional news gathering?

Is his expectation based on a feeling or facts?

Two, there's always interest by Big Business and Politics in the Media as long as they can have an impact on them - in which case news can be a valuable asset, provided that content doesn't run wild but is controlled within certain parameters, as in Murdoch's top-down business model. IF it works (readers pay and benefactors subsidise the business), it may spread. (??)

As the free for all barrier is falling, and people are asked to pay for - first specialised and then increasingly general news content, it may become more difficult for sites like this one to survive because of copyright issues et al.

Murdoch has taken this enormous step, and news continues to flow without him. The question is, will there be more to follow? Or, in what other way might access to world-wide news change in the years to come?