Does the Internet undermine culture?

What: Audio program on NPR
When: June 16, 2007
Link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11131872

Reading notes:
Interview, current incarnation of the internet threatens culture. The Cult of the Amateur. Andrew King.
WEb 2.0: includes youtube, myspace etc. What is the problem?
My problem fundamentally undermines authority of mainstream media. User generated content is unreliable. Crisis in media industry, journalism, TV, music industry. Core of our culture. All we have is opinion, chaos.
Lack of cultural gate keepers. Neo marxist argument assumes that everyone who holds power is protecting economic interest.  The majority of editors, agents, publishers, are doing the best job they can, love and respect for music, news and books.  The "elite" are not perusing corrupt agendas.
Behind the democratization of the media there's a new oligarchy but we don't know who the people are.
How about the wisdom of the crowd?  In cultural terms, I prefer the wisdom of the professional. Quality difference.
POP music scene. Artist happy with putting their work on the Internet, the gatekeepers are gone.  There are some examples that have made it on the web, but not the generality. Is the people who are more skilled in marketing that will succeed but not the best musicians.
How about this being creative destruction in capitalism and that it will be better after it?
We need to manage the consequences of technology, not technological determinism.
Indpeendent bookstores vs. Amazon, the death of independent bookstores.  If bookstores and encyclopedias are the "roadkill" on the path of a new digital world, then what kind of would will it be?