Blogs

Beast Of Burden

By Brian Montopoli

June 12, 2007 / 12:50 PM EDT / CBS News

(AP Photo /Eddie Keogh)

"The fear of missing out means today's media, more than ever before, hunts in a pack. In these modes it is like a feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits. But no one dares miss out."

--Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in a speech at the London offices of Reuters, as quoted by the New York Times.

More Blair: "The media are facing a hugely more intense form of competition than anything they have ever experienced before. They are not the masters of this change but its victims. The result is a media that increasingly and to a dangerous degree is driven by 'impact.' Impact is what matters. It is all that can distinguish, can rise above the clamor, can get noticed. Impact gives competitive edge. Of course, the accuracy of a story counts. But it is secondary to impact."