For the moment, internet/iPod is an alternative distribution outlet. Be wary though - the printing press was once a 'new media' too, trumpeted as a liberating force which ended the rule of Popes and kings... Didn't take long for it to become a primary tool of old-establishment monopoly and propaganda.
The low cost makes getting media out accessible to basically anyone. You're not going to see another Milton Berle, Johnny Carson, Walter Cronkite, or the Beatles, because there are so many distribution outlets now. Part of their success was that there were so few outlets, one person could dominate the spectrum. That's no longer possible.
If you look at the complaints of the old media, it's primarily that they are no longer the information gatekeepers. There's a conceit among editors, publishers and producers. They believe they should be able to filter the news for "the public good." Even ten years ago, the Dan Rather/Mary Mapes fabrication would have worked. Cindy Sheehan could have been protected from scrutiny by the old stream media, as Cronkite protected the "Vietnam Veterans Against the War." Those days are over, but we do have to protect the freedom to publish in the new media. Keep the internet away from the UN, and keep the Democrats from pushing a "fairness doctrine."