While I think Shirky and Johnson are right, there's still a lot of wrong out there. Witness David Carr of the NY Times, fantasizing about some way to force people to pay for newsgathering:

No more free content. The Web has become the primary delivery mechanism for quality newsrooms across the country, and consumers will have to participate in financing the newsgathering process if it is to continue. Setting the price point at free --the newspaper analyst Alan D. Mutter called it the "original sin" -- has brought the industry millions of eyeballs and a return that doesn't cover the coffee budget of some newsrooms.

So what does he propose to do about a local blogger who shows up to cover a city hall meeting? Take him out behind the building and work him over? Force a paywall in front of all of his "news" posts?

The world of news gathering and reporting is shifting, and there's no way to hold back the tide. The old business models simply don't work. Pretending otherwise isn't a solution.