I love football metaphors.

Visualize this...

The quarterback pulls back to pass, the defenders rush in, the offensive line holds them back.

Receivers go long, when all of a sudden the defenders turn around and race back to the line of scrimmage.

The quarterback stands there for a moment, shrugs his shoulders and lobs a bomb to one of the receivers, who catches it and trots into the end-zone.

Fans are agape, chins drop, eyes widen. Huh? What? Is that football?

I see the same thing happening in online news.

The publishers have fallen in love with paywalls. That's like the defenders retreating back to the line of scrimmage. The quarterback is Twitter. Gradually supporting new media types, bringing in the talent that used to populate television and print with their imagery, songs, athletiticsm, drama, looks, humor, celebrity. The raw materials of media.