It's all good

Cori Dauber points out an interesting phenomenon which has only just happened.

Over the last several years we've also become used to the compression of time between the reporting of an event and the availability of vast amounts of critique and commentary on that reporting from bloggers.

What is really radical, given the increased access to the Internet for service members in the combat zones, is the amazing compression between the reporting of an event from the combat zone, and the commentary on that reporting from eyewitnesses. (Example via Instapundit.) And that is truly something new in the annals of war reporting.

With all due respect to the professor, who obviously knows her craft. it's much broader than that. The compression isn't just occurring in the war zone. It's everywhere.

Expert commentary on media reports is now almost instantaneous. Eyewitness testimony, unfiltered by a biased media, is now routinely available. The Internet is ushering in a new era of raw, unfiltered information that includes a rich context. No longer do news seekers have to hope they understand all the facts. They can read them easily, at their leisure, in the privacy of their own homes.

It's an an open-source news revolution.