Outsiders on the Inside

I thought that meeting Mark Finkelstein, from FinkelBlog, was an interesting experience. The thing that he said which stuck with me the most was about being an outsider, in terms of the media world, yet still being able to build relationships with the people on the inside. He talked about corresponding with people like Jake Tapper from ABC News and sharing ideas about what is going on in the media. I thought this was a great example of how the news media was evolving into a two way conversation rather than the producers only speaking in a downward direction to news consumers.
The more ideas can flow in both directions, the more everyone benefits. Plus, people on the "outside of the club" can add fresh perspectives and will most likely see things in a different light. I enjoyed that a lot of the time conservative and liberal bloggers were on the same side when it came to criticizing the mainstream media, even if some of their ideology behind it was different. All of this adds to a diversity of ideas which seems to be one of the main pillars for new and evolving independent media.