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Inexpensive technology has put the tools of mass communication in the hands of the masses, diluting the power of traditional news media. We are in the early days of a rapidly expanding movement of do-it-yourself news, often called citizen journalism. I think it has great potential for serving democracy.

The noted press critic A.J. Liebling said, "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one."

Now, everyone with a computer and Internet connection is a potential publisher; everyone with a video-enabled cell phone is a potential broadcaster.

This unprecedented power shift is not without risk.

In two Eagle columns (May 6 and 13 Opinion), Davis Merritt, my colleague at Wichita State University's Elliott School of Communication, raised alarm about the potential dangers of iReport.com. It's a Web site owned and run by CNN as a sort of YouTube for news. It allows anyone to post news video with none of the accuracy, fairness and taste filters provided by traditional news organizations.

You've probably never heard of Melvin Neufeld, but there's one thing you might want to know about the Kansas House speaker: He goes well with jam.

Yep, he's toast. Or, at a minimum, he's so charred around the edges that hardly anybody will go near him.

Neu-feld, R-Ingalls, was at the helm during one of the most desultory sessions in recent state history. He's responsible for placing passage of the twin 700-megawatt coal-fired power plants near Holcomb ahead of everything else.

Never mind if you care about immigration or health care reform or an improved social safety net.

It was coal, coal, coal, or it was the shaft.

To look at Sunday's Eagle Opinion pages as well as other recent news and commentaries, one would think that all the Kansas Legislature did all session was talk about coal. Although there was discussion about coal, this was one of the most successful sessions the south-central Kansas delegation has ever had.

We were able to preserve past funding initiatives, particularly in the aviation research area, as well as new funding. In addition to these successes, we also had a conversation about Kansas' energy future, and that's a good thing.

Convincing the entire legislative body of the importance of aviation for our state, the need to fund the training of family practice doctors, and the importance of preserving and sustaining a regional water supply is no easy task. In the end, investing in these programs boosts our economy and improves quality of life, not just for south-central Kansas but for all of Kansas.

Many thanks to leadership in both chambers for expediting the legislation to allow the state of Kansas the opportunity to compete with other states to ensure Cessna Aircraft's new production facility for the Columbus business jet is built in Wichita.

Another initiative that was new was helping the legislative body understand the need for sustaining and preserving a valuable water supply for our region. The Equus Beds is important to municipalities, industry and agriculture. This funding was unprecedented in that past funding has been focused on surface water reservoirs.

World Trade Week a great opportunity

Welcome to the ambassadors and ministers from the Arab Gulf States and the Middle East who are in Wichita today for the 2008 World Trade Week. The 32nd annual event is hosted by the World Trade Council of Wichita and highlights trade opportunities around the world. This year's event focuses on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Morocco and Egypt. The gathering is a great opportunity for local companies to learn about doing business in those countries and to showcase what Wichita and Kansas have to trade.

However the presidential election turns out, the Barack Obama campaign has tapped into a constituency that holds powerful implications for the future of American politics. The youngest of these voters, those ranging in age from roughly the late teens to the early 30s, are part of the so-called millennial generation.

This is a generation that is in danger of being left out of the American dream -- the first American generation to do less well economically than their parents. And that economic uncertainty appears to have played a big role in shaping their views of government and politics.

A number of studies -- including new ones by the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., and by Demos, a progressive think tank in New York City -- have shown that Americans in this age group are faced with a variety of challenges that are tougher than those faced by young adults over the past few decades. Among the challenges are worsening job prospects, lower rates of health insurance coverage and higher levels of debt.

We know that the generation immediately preceding the millennials is struggling. Men who are now in their 30s, the prime age for raising a family, earn less money than members of their fathers' generation did at the same age. In 1974, the median income for men in their 30s (using today's inflation-adjusted dollars) was about $40,000. The figure for men in their 30s now is $35,000.

It's not hard to understand why surveys show that overwhelming percentages of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track. The American dream is on life support. Polls show that dwindling numbers of Americans (in some cases as few as a third of all respondents) believe their children will end up better off than they are.