The latest issue of Quadrant has an editorial entitled The New Media and the (Same) Old Media. It says:

The relative strength of the opinion and features pages of the broadsheets which used to be a selling point is also suffering, from on the one hand the proliferation of blogs written by more and more sophisticated and knowledgeable writers which are freely available, and on the other the simple fact of the superior knowledge and intelligence, compared to the journalists, of such writers. Who wants ignorant opinionating from, for example, the Age when far better written, better informed and analytical comment can be found just as easily elsewhere?

And there is more:

At the same time DVD releases themselves are under threat from direct downloads of current and archival films. Telstra Bigpond Movies has been offering an excellent library of DVDs by an efficient postal distribution system (we must be thankful that some aspects of Australia Post are still functioning in a reasonable manner). Moreover there are superb backlists of old films on DVD growing on sites like Amazon, such that once-rare jewels of cinematic history can now be added to one’s own library. But Telstra is now offering direct downloads by broadband over the internet, so that for a fee considerably less than the normal cinema seat price one can have many films downloaded to one’s own computer for viewing at leisure. Clearly with the spread of suitable facilities this could begin to compete with traditional first cinema release. Some traditionalists prefer sitting in uncomfortable seats in a cinema amongst other people to enjoy a film. But these are, literally, dying out. More sensible people see the advantages of sitting in one’s own home, alone or with friends, with the ability to take breaks at will.