For those who are not on twitter yet, I would encourage you to at least take a look at what is going on surrounding the Iranian elections. People inside Iran are posting messages, photos and first hand accounts. Journalists who are now confined to hotels are tweeting small bits of information. It is pretty astounding.
I now believe that social media and services like twitter can make traditional media largely irrelevent. Look at what is going on in Iran and make sure you follow #iranelection People around the world are discussing, linking to details of the activities there. Check out this great post about supporting the iran protest efforts using technology.
A good number of powerful images out there are from the AP, this will cease to exist after Iranian authorities crack down and begin to shut traditional journalists down. We can only hope that they contine to secret information out of Iran.
I know that skeptics and detractors will say that media like this is equivalent to opinion pieces and that facts are unchecked. However, I think it is up to us as readers to be critical of the sources we choose to believe and read. Don't blindly accept things as facts. However, I do believe that the nature of social media where the same information is reported by and distributed by multiple original sources is a form of fact checking and corroboration. Remember that the methods and practices of a journalist, not his/her medium of choice is what gives news and information credibility. A TV or newpaper journalist can be everybit as unreliable as a blogger. One "old media" role that will certainly need to be translated for our new media world is that of editor. Someone needs to be the gate keeper of good reliable content, but the role will no longer below to one person, it will take the form of the entire community, quickly voting good content in, and bad content down.