JC: Who’ll Speak Truth To Power?

Unfolding horror stories of wrongheaded loans and wretched excesses by bankers prompt a reasonable citizen to ask: Who was guarding the store? Who was looking out for white-collar crime? Outrage and ersatz populism on cable TV news — spread by guys with seven-figure salaries — has taken the form of blunderbuss attacks on Congress and pictures of villains. Nobody questions the absence of watchdogs. The Seattle P-I did just that. Our paper has painstakingly detailed how FBI agents and dollars were diverted from white-collar crime to the war on terrorism. The promise of $1 billion to revitalize white-collar work graced our front page a week ago. It’s satisfying to see as the print P-I nears its last edition/ Joel Connelly , Seattle PI. More here .

Question: Do you think blogs and online editions can replace the declinging newspaper industry as media that will hold government and other powers that be accountable for their actions?