There’s much debate about the future of journalism these days, much of which I find uninteresting. Too often ideas and analysis flow great distances from the front lines. This, of course, is my bias: I’m rarely interested in the thoughts and ideas of those who haven’t rolled up their sleeves and done the dirty work to transform the world from one of atoms to one of bits.

That transformation is more subtle than simply a transition from static paper to interactive digital “page.” The implications are profound as we begin to understand the nature of network communication, linked information systems, open architectures and social inter-connectivity. Even the most basic idea of budget meetings, where editors and reporters “decide” what the news will be, should be overhauled and re-imagined in this network world. [Read more...]