Will social networks replace CNN and Guy Kawasaki?

I don’t visit news sites anymore, yes I watch CNN or one of the other news channels when I have a few minutes.  But I don’t sit down deliberately to see the news.  I don’t get the newspaper anymore either.  And I’m not in the minority, but you knew that already.

So my question is do we really need curators, and news agencies anymore?  I like the stuff that Guy Kawasaki finds and tweets about, but I’ve got my issues with it.  And Guy and I discussed it, too.  But I’ve found that my Twitter my Facebook and my LinkedIn networks can deliver all of the news that I’m interested in knowing about. 

My connections span personal, family, and professional and tell me about events local, and worldwide.  They tell me about what’s happening in business, politics, society, my hobbies and everything that I need to know about.  I don’t think that I’ve missed a significant story in any facet of my life, personal or professional in almost a year.  That wasn’t the case 3 years ago.  I can remember being surprised that someone had gotten married or had a child, or that there was a new war, or famine, or a business competitor had folded.  But that simply doesn’t happen to me anymore.

So I simply don’t need Guy Kawasaki, or ABC News most of the time.  When I’m in the car I’m just as likely to listen to news as I am to sports (OK only during football season), or to music.

Some will say that news agencies are needed because they provide trusted news sources.  However, my feeling is that they are squandering that trust in their unending quest for sensationalism.  We’ve all had our weekend ruined by the “monster storm” approaching “Be sure to watch/listen at 6 or 11PM to catch the latest.” Which never materialized.  The news today is so competitive that they sensationalize everything they can to gain a few ratings points.  Remember Balloon Boy?  Another decade of this and the news agencies won’t be any more trustworthy than cousin Fred.

If your social network tells you about every major story you are interested in, what does that leave for the news agencies?  Up against Google and Wikipedia I don’t know if there’s a long term future for them.  AP today announced they are going to credit bloggers as sources for stories.  I don’t think that the future is going to be full of curators like Guy Kawasaki either.  Because we fill our lives and our social networks with people that curate for us naturally.  Perhaps some people will still need and want curators, but I think as most people become social media savvy they will not need them.

Give me 1 Good Reason why you think we need news agencies and curators.