Media site of the (near)future

This is sorta blog related, in a way, but it's also just something I'd like to share.

From the always-pimpable Lost Remote Web site, this quick critique of the soon-to-be-relaunched USA Today.

Most important parts:

>...Users can create their own profiles, add friends and start their own blogs. You can vote for stories, which pushes them up a recommendation list on the home page. You can comment on any story, and the most-commented stories are also ranked. And the recommendations and comments are shareable with friends. Users are also encouraged to upload photos, which will have “report abuse” links. USAToday.com’s “On Deadline” blog is available front-and-center on the home page with a click of a tab. And perhaps the most surprising feature is USAToday.com will display aggregated lists of their competitors’ headlines, via RSS, which link directly off the site.

Sound a little crazy? Alarming?

Well, yeah, probably. But, trust me, this is the way things are going ... and for good reason.

For what it's worth, Gannett has taken the lead in really progressive new media thinking. Ask me about it if you have 10 minutes or so to burn sometime.

UPDATE: Here's a JPG of what the home page will look like starting this weekend. (Note both the comment at the very top and the tab over to the equivalent of their "Breaking News" blog.)

Also, via Cyberjournalist, this posting from USA Today's "On Deadline" blog describing, roughly, what "network journalism" is:

>On Deadline has already seen some of this network journalism. A while back, a USA TODAY reporter saw On Deadline readers discussing her story about cancer treatments and sharing their experiences. She began talking to a number of the commenters, and one of them became the lead on her next story.