This might seem like classic New York sociology: in a city that is devoted to the cause of reinvention, and where politics, philanthropy, money and media collide constantly, new foundations emerge all the time, amid parties and brave speeches. But on another level, Barsky’s gathering also signalled a shift that is under way in the ecosystem of information – and philanthropy. Three decades ago, US print and television journalism was dominated by a collection of commercial media behemoths, supplemented by a host of regional tiddlers. Today, many of those regional players have vanished, and most of the largest newspapers are struggling to make (much) money.
