What Mr Hartigan and his ilk in the mainstream fail to appreciate is that the blogosphere is booming precisely because of the failure of the mainstream media to tell the truth (when they do bother to report topics) or to be other than cheerleaders for the establishment view.

Murdoch himself has acknowledged this with his comments about supporting the war in Iraq. It was the blogosphere that consistently stated that there were no weapons of mass destruction and otherwise exposed the shameful lies and deceptions of the msm for what they were.

There is a long catalogue of topics that the msm refuses(ed) to cover, including the JFK assassination, the Martin Luther King civil trial which found the State of Tennessee among other agencies responsible for his death, the events of 11 September 2001 et al. I think it was George Orwell who said that the really big lies are not what one is told but what one is not told.

The internet bloggers have moved to fill those gaps. In the past ten years they have tackled topics and provided information that the msm has patently failed in its duty to do. Mr Hartigan may not like it, but unless and until the msm tell their readers what is really going on rather than acting as mouthpieces for various establishment interests, then their readership will continue to decline and with it public respect for its practitioners.