According to Sam Donaldson, Network News is Dead:

"God forbid, if someone shot the President, which network would you turn to? It will be cable, the Internet--something other than General Hospital being interrupted."

Increasingly, viewers will continue turning to alternative sources for everyday news as well, he said.

Tasteless example notwithstanding, I believe Donaldson is right on the money!

Also on the panel at the National Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas were CNN political analyst Jeff Greenfield and CBS Sunday Morning's Charles Osgood. Although they weren't quite as pessimistic as Donaldson, they both left the impression that change would be required for the mainstream media to remain competitive. All were in agreement that internet bloggers have had a positive impact by causing the mainstream media to do more source and fact checking.

My personal feeling is that the network news isn't dead yet, but it is hanging on by a thread, and bloggers deserve at least some of the credit for that.