Bearing in mind the well-publicised limitations of using Alexa as a sole metric for comparison, I think the second and third graphs due illustrate some important points.

I’m not sure that comparing a blogging platform vs one media outlet in the 1st graph, CNN vs Blogger is entirely fair. What would be great would be to put a specific number of media sites up against the blogs in that genre etc

Great point Dan – that would be a great number to generate. While I agree it might not be entirely “fair” to compare a single media outlet to a blogging platform, I think there is still a strong message there in terms of how the nature of how news/content is created and consumed has been changing.

Put another way… do you think any of the major media outlets might now wish they approached the blogosphere a bit differently (i.e. perhaps becoming a platform)?

I think it is a fair comparison. A media outlet like CNN tries to to be everything to everyone and cover many different genres.

However they are limited to what sells. A blogging platform has a wide open canvas and can cover whatever they like.

I think CNN is a platform.

I think looking at the comparison is very similar to the comparison of new media and old media.

You have to open your mind to see the comparison.

Don: Cheers, and the only caveat is that I have no idea how you’d select the number of examples to make it ‘fair’!

I do totally agree with the message behind the graph. Not only have I found myself following news on Twitter and analysis on blogs, but I also work for a magazine publisher, so I’m aware of both sides.

I think the next period will be interesting for most major media companies, as realisation and changes always take a bit of time in large companies