Funny how The Economist still uses “New media” as heading for stories about web developments, blogs, wikis and the like, which they later call participatory media – that sounds better. Anyway, they give this topic the full survey treatment in the new issue (most stories are subscriber only). And they’re not afraid of comparing Ben and Mena Trott with Hr. Gutenberg. The concluding piece (sub.) ponders possible outcomes of the “revolution” – because in revolutions, there are winners and losers:

The honest conclusion, of course, is that nobody knows whether the era of participatory media will, on balance, be good or bad. As with most revolutions, it is a question of emphasis. Generally speaking, people who have faith in democracy welcome participatory media, whereas people who have reservations will be nostalgic for the top-down certainties of the mass media.

One could add: Those who are especially happy for participatory media also tend to believe in participatory democracy, they believe that participation is inherently positive and a healthy sign (not all democracy theorists agree there).