Here are the major differences, set forth by Harvey Wasserman of Free Press:
As we stumble toward another presidential election, it’s never been more clear that our political process is being warped by a corporate stranglehold on the free flow of information. Amidst a virtual blackout of coverage of a horrific war, a global ecological crisis and an advancing economic collapse, what passes for the mass media is itself in collapse. What’s left of our democracy teeters on the brink. The culprit, in the parlance of the day, has been the “Mainstream Media,” or MSM.
But that’s wrong name for it. Today’s mass media is Corporate, not Mainstream, and the distinction is critical. Calling the Corporate Media (CM) “mainstream” implies that it speaks for mid-road opinion, and it absolutely does not.
Never fear. The Corporate Media becomes more obsolete everyday, as the typing hands tear apart the talking heads. Corporate Media is still big and bad and powerful, no doubt, but at least people unaffiliated with it can have a voice now. The best textbook example of this, politics aside, is the crazy amount of money and support Ron Paul was able to generate online, despite really lackluster MSM coverage.
The internet has made it possible for people to realize that they are not alone in disagreeing vehemently with what their television tells them. People know that so-called MSM does not represent them, and they flock to blogs, social networking and online news sources. I think eventually the popularity of the internet will topple this foolish, old-fashioned media. I think we stand a chance.