Can bloggers save journalism?

This question was the subject of a discussion yesterday (h/t Romenesko) between Andrew Sullivan, Tina Brown, and Nicholas Lemann on WBUR's On Point. I haven't yet had a chance to give it a listen, but the show consistently hits a high mark.

The news for the American newspaper industry just gets worse. As circulation numbers continue to slide, once-mighty dailies are cutting more staff and closing bureaus.

And while newspapers continue to lose readers as fast as trees in autumn shed their leaves, a new journalistic landscape is taking shape. There are fewer professional reporters reporting to fewer seasoned editors. But as the traditional journalistic gate-keepers retreat, the Internet is swelling with millions of bloggers and new forms of online publishing.

For many, this is cause for alarm. But one of the blogosphere’s — and print journalism’s — brightest lights, Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic, makes some bold claims for blogs in a new essay. He says the best kind of blogging could lead to a “golden era for journalism.”

Is he right?