I saw this comment over on the Sarah Palin thread, and rather than threadjack that one, I thought it calls for its own:

Quote Originally Posted by Sstashmoo View Post
The media is all powerful, even more powerful than the government in some regards.
They can make anybody, anything they want. ...The press, broadband and airwaves are all-powerful and do more to shape public opinion than the Government ever could.
The printing press is considered the most important invention in the last few centuries by many.
I've been pondering this for a while: What exactly is "the media" these days? Seems everyone's got a bone to pick with "the media," but hasn't it become such a broad, catch-all term that it's impossible to define anymore?
Everyone has a blog, anyone can go on a message board, anyone can rant away on video and post it on YouTube. Are they part of "the media?" How about, say, a newsletter put out by a extremist group? How about the crazy guy on the soapbox on the corner? For any viewpoint, there's a "media" that's on your side and a whole different "media" you can blame for everything that goes wrong.
There are attempts to categorize with terms like "mainstream media," "right-wing radio" and "the blogosphere," but I'm convinced there needs to be a whole new definition. It's too easy for people like Sarah, Kwame, Monica and any Joe Blow trying to dodge blame to say "it's the media's fault."
How do you define "the media?"