Digital ID World’s Eric Norlin nicely sums up the changes that community media is driving in Syndicator Blog: Riding the Syndicate Wave. “The hierarchy of sacred media contacts is crumbling. Word of mouth, bloggers, buzz and small communities of extremely influential (and vocal) people rule the day.” Amen.

Personally, I believe this is an opportunity to big media. Those who have passed the denial stage will realize that blogs offer cheap content and the possibility of identifying new influencers who can grace their pages with compelling commentary. Blogs aren’t a replacement for mainstream meda; they’re a complement to it. Why aren’t more newspapers following Businessweek‘s lead and really embracing this channel?