In the United States, reports the Wall Street Journal, more people now blog for a living than program computers, fight fires or tend bar; there are now nearly as many bloggers as there are lawyers. And “s bloggers have increased in numbers, the number of journalists has significantly declined,” notes the WSJ.

Excerpts:
 
Less and less of our information flow is devoted to
gathering facts, and more and more is going toward popularizing
opinion. Twenty-four-hour news channels have been replaced by 24-hour
opinion channels … It is hard to think of another job category that has grown so quickly
and become such a force in society without having any tests, degrees,
or regulation of virtually any kind.


… for how long can nearly 500,000 people who are gradually replacing whole swaths of journalists survive with no worker protections, no enforced ethics codes, limited standards, and, for most, no formal training?

Hat tip to Romenesko.