New watershed

I was listening to Christopher Lydon's new show on NPR tonight, and he had three guests who seemed to agree that we are witnessing this week the emergence of the newest mass news medium in the form of blogs. They said Hurricane Katrina has been reported faster, better and more accurately by bloggers than other media. They particularly cited craigslist and nola.com. as places where the real story is emerging. I have already noticed that in recent years such transitions often occur in times of national crisis. In World War II, radio became the primary source of news. When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, TV became the primary source of news. Some say that the 9/11 tragedy was when many people first turned to the Internet (Web sites) for news. And now we may see another transition at a time of national crisis. I don't know if it is true, but the concept is exciting.