The Times, they're a' changin'

Over at Pressthink, Jay Rosen is struggling to find the coherent theme in all of the change issues that are afoot in media today.

We are in the midst of a sea change, and everyone I talk to seems to see it. Our business plan would have been laughable five years ago. We're betting that in five years it will seem as conventional as blogging does today. (Be honest, had you even heard of blogs two years ago?)

As some of the commenters on Pressthink seem to think, I believe it comes down to two things:

1. As we near the tipping point for online publishing adoption (usage and creation), the information flow is being rapidly democratized. But, nature abhors a vacuum, and the market wants some order to the data flow. (Face it, unlimited information is almost as uselss as no information.) Which brings us to the second point...
2. Like many industries do over time, the traditional media market has passed maturity and entered decline. It is largely coincidental that this has happened just as the technological democratization above bears fruit. That condition has created a perfect storm that has the market practically screaming for a revolution.

At least, that's what I tell myself every morning.