Impending Doom

Kevin Drum thinks the end of the blogosphere draws nigh. What's the cause? The trigger is that newspapers want to switch to subscription-based formats online, rather than their current free editions. Drum thinks that without the presence of free online content, bloggers won't have enough to talk about.

I see his point, but I think there are a few things that need to be addressed. First, there are other things bloggers link to besides newspapers. Law Review articles, court cases, academic journals, and above all OTHER BLOGGERS all serve as spark points for insightful and provocative discussion. As long as a few bloggers can still come up with independent thoughts without the benefit of the New York Times, we should manage to get through this okay. Second, people still can read the print editions of these papers and transcribe excerpts online. It isn't ideal, and it would hurt the general medium (because you can't provide hyperlinks), but it wouldn't be catastrophic either. Finally, I think the blogosphere might have reached critical mass, where it can sustain itself. There are so many bright, insightful commentators from all over the political spectrum currently running blogs that I think that there is enough information to go around.

Oh, and if you want some REAL impending doom, Gregg Easterbrook has an article for you. Features include giant volcanic eruptions, magnetic field reversals, and of course asteroid impacts.