There is no blogs vs. old media, is there?

After the (super) New York Magazine article on blogs, an "it's curtains" piece on Slate, comes a feature from Trevor Butterworth in The Financial Times. The article gives a slightly new spin on the ancient Blogs vs. Old media debate (please try and stay awake at the back). It's a well done, in depth peice, with bags of banter from a bevvy of well known bloggers.

Personally, I just don't get the whole 'Blogs vs. Old media' thing. The two are merging and boundaries are blurring. It's happening, but no-one knows quite what the new model is. All fascinating, but where's the 'versus' bit?

I like the fact that the FT article links to a blog specifically created to discuss this story. This is something I've blogged about before. However, it would've been even better to just link through to the journalist's own blog (if he has one?) and discuss it there.

I see Butterworth is keen to join in the debate on his own article and offer up further opinions,

"Blogs are very useful tools for journalists to communicate with their audience: the empyrean "we answer to no-one" attitude in American journalism has been self-destructive; as an editor and a journalist, you should be thrilled that your readers care so much as to write a letter or post a response - even if that response can cut close to the bone..."

"...And here's my prediction: the old media are going to go after the news aggregators – and there's going to be virtual blood on the wall. Listening to major media players at a Knight Bagehot panel discussion, I came away feeling that the dinosaurs were beginning to rumble."

It's unclear whether this blog discussion is a one off for this article or will be repeated for other stories. The blog blurb says,"The FT Magazine set up this blog so readers could discuss Trevor Butterworth's February 18, 2006 story on blogging."  Yet more debate on the same piece at Paul Kedrosky's blog.

UPDATE: More on the death or otherwise of newspapers at The Organ Grinder.

Technorati Tags: journalism, blogs, citizen journalism, new media