There are some Internet-only or non-traditional brands that have taken off, such as News.com, Salon and non-traditional distribution channels such as Yahoo! But each of these sites spent significant money building a brand to bring visitors. And many still have problems generating enough revenue to pay for all of that traffic and the associated costs of providing them with content.
What the Internet has done is to provide smaller websites with the opportunity to reach those people, even if it's on a temporary basis. When a national story breaks in a regional or local newspaper's backyard, that site can suddenly provide localized content that no one else can deliver. It might only last for a few hours or a few days, but it gives the media outlet's staff a chance to reach a national and international audience, and it gives that audience the chance to hear from a very unique voice. That's pretty cool.
