J.D. Lasica writes about blogging as it relates to journalism in his recent OJR column, which profiles a six weblogging journalist. As always, his column was a good read, but it was this month's opening that got me thinking.

The first paragraphs imply how the great dream of the Web is that of independent content conquering the mainstream media. First came the early Mosaic pages followed shortly after by the homesteaders at GeoCities, then from late-1998 to early-2000 the revenue-based, commercial sites ruled. Blogging's mainstream rise this year could be the third — and victorious — wave, Lasica (and many others) posits.

While I don't believe blogging (whether individual based, or community-based) will supplement the mainstream media, it has — like the Web itself — helped accomplish at least two things:

• increased the transparency of how the media operates as journalists create their own personal and professional blogs
• provided a venue for non-professionals to quickly and easily post news and information

The last point is the true strength of the Web. Blogging sites like UserLand and Blogger are just the latest in a growing set of tools serving to open the Web. There will be more, and they will make Web publishing even easier.

Sites like CANOE.ca, CNN.com, and Yahoo will always have a place for traditional news, the independent Web will increasingly provide news and opinions to the communities mega-news sites can't or won't.