I know it's common to hear the word revolutionary used in connection with the Internet and the information hi way, but it is truly breathtaking to realize how radical the changes are particularly with respect to news gathering and journalism.

Equally amazing are the frightened and reactionary attitudes expressed reporters to it. A good example to illustrate both sides of this issue is The Internet phenomenon called the Drudge Report.

Without the aid of a college degree, much less a degree from a prestigious school of journalism, Matt Drudge has become not only a cyber sensation but has raised fundamental questions concerning the shape of news reporting in the future.

In case you haven't visited his web site, www.drudgereport.com, it is a place that offers gossip. Gossip of all kinds but especially political. He recently has gained fame by leaking the story that Newsweek had held back the Monica Lewinsky - President Clinton affair but that is only one of dozens of stories he has been the first to report during his four year tenure.

In addition to his own reports he provides dozens of hyper links to news sources and columnists of every political stripe, from Robert Novak to Molly Ivans. His popularity has grown to the point where his site records over one million hits a day. Even his worst critics concede that number is amazing.

The rap on Drudge is that he is nothing but tabloid. He is scolded for not checking his sources for accuracy before printing and warned that his style of writing is irresponsible and could have catastrophic consequences. Those allegations aside, it seems that what bothers folks most is that he is faster at reporting the news and by implication threatens the traditional structure of the news media.

While it is not surprising that professionals have not greeted him with open arms their open disdains is ugly. For example, before addressing the National Press Club, he was insulted by its president and told that few in the room thought he was a journalist.

His reply was amazing in that not only did he not become defensive or retaliatory but he earnestly went on to explain the implications of the Internet revolution that his hosts could not grasp.

In defending himself he pointed out that his accuracy record was no different than other establishment news agencies. Citing source after source from Tom Brokaw and CNN on Richard Jewel, to the the Wall Street Journal, Drudge demonstrated how it is impossible to be perfectly accurate all the time and that every news source has had to pay large sums in liability judgments for their mistakes.

Ironically, the day after his address, ABC news ran the erroneous report that Bob Hope was dead.

Drudge was not simply saying that he was like everyone else. In fact he boldly declared that he was not a professional and in so doing put his finger on one of the key aspects of the cyber revolution and the media .

The Internet not only changes how we get news but who has access to it, much like the way the invention of the printing press did 500 years ago. Where once only priests had access to and could read the Bible, the development of publishing meant that people were freed to read and interpret the meaning of religious texts as well all forms of information at a radically new level.

Applying this analogy to the future means that the media will no longer be the priesthood of news business. It seems that the ultimate impact of increasing information is to democratize and level the differences that exist in society. In Christianity, exclusive dominance by the clergy gave way to the universal priesthood of believers in the Protestant Reformation. Likewise, politically, the spread of information lead to the decline of monarchy and the growth of democratic states.

The history lesson aside, the meaning of the Internet age is simply that information itself does not have to be managed or controlled by an special group. In an arena where there is a large number of news contributors and readers one has a true democracy of knowledge which is self regulating. There will be no more alter rail to divide the cleric/journalist from the laity/ consumer. Drudge calls this the people's journalism. The distinction between professional and ordinary citizen is minimized.

Power or authority in this new world will not be established by class or reputation but by the power of expertise and knowledge.

It's ironic that the media who has radically changed our very notions about authority within government and religion from those based on an elite hierarchy to democratic decision, is less enthusiastic when the far reaching implications of mass access to news is applied to itself.

No longer will there be a need for "experts" to tell us the truth or what to believe or even what is happening. If a story is false it will not be sustained. Things that catch on only do so on strength of mass support.

That said, I don't believe the Internet world will be utopian. The same problems present in our information management structure will be in the new one. But something very important will need to change but I suspect it is not what journalists fear.

As Drudge pointed out in his speech, when radio was invented, newspapers worried, and when TV appeared, radio worried. Obviously we still have newspapers and radio but our information sources are more diverse and we are less dependent on any one them. I think that is a good thing.

Attitudes in the media will have to change. Paternalism, which has declined in the other major institutions of our culture will have to retire here as well.

In some ways the Internet demands that we shift our conceptual paradigm of how we get and process information as well as how we regard authority and how truth is established. My hope is that, unlike the rude MC at the NPC luncheon, we can be more open to this change and not frightened by it. We must assume an increased responsibility which accompanies our greater access to information and that ultimately we may raise in our abilities to discern and think critically to a new level.

Rather than being a threat, I see the Drudge Report and a challenge and preview of journalism to come. Instead of cursing this arrival, I hope news gathering folks can appreciate the radical implications the net holds for consumers and assist in its implementation.