FT editor Lionel Barber on the state of newspapers in the US: "[I]t seems undeniable that 2008 – and the coverage of the presidential election – will be seen as a tipping point in American journalism. The imperial status of the mainstream media – the television networks, big metropolitan dailies and lofty commentators – has been shaken. The lay-offs of hundreds of US newspaper journalists are a symptom of a wider malaise. We are witnessing a shift in the balance of power towards new media, with wholesale repercussions for the practice of journalism."