Technology Hurting Mainstream Media, or Helping?

We have been learning a lot in class about how the mainstream media has been affected by all the new technological developments. The fact that people can just check for the news online, or even on their phones, makes people less likely to pick up a paper or watch the nightly news. However, it is not only hurting them. I saw a commercial recently for KTLA asking people to text message them pictures or videos that they get if they happen to be at the right place at the right time for a breaking story. This is one way in which mainstream media is benefiting from technology. Rather than only have a few reporters in the field, it is as if they have reporters all over the place. I am sure that many of their breaking stories are discovered because of a regular citizen giving them a tip. In this way, the viewers are actually reporting to the media, and then in turn they are reporting back to all of us. This is a nice way that the media and the viewers can help each other out, by informing each other whenever they know something that the other may not. It is a nice system, but it would never be possible without the technology that has recently been accused of taking away mainstream media's viewers.