Hm. Reading David Brin's Earth, something just struck me. A change that's already happening, in the way broadcasting (and broadcasters) work.

Originally, the broadcaster - radio station, cable network, and so forth - was responsible for bringing you the news. Their name was just a label; the service was the information itself. Fair enough.

Nowadays, increasingly, their job has changed. Think "EdmontonJournal.com" and so forth. No longer is the task to transport the information to you; these days, that information is already reaching you. Along with way too much other stuff. No, what EdmontonJournal.com sells, in many ways, is the name - the credibility. From being an information provider, now they move toward being an information imprimatur.

Neat.