I would add that social media doesn't replace mainstream media. At the local level, it is a wonderful thing, a great advance that the local town hall is available as a webcast perhaps, so that any of the citizens can watch. The reality is that most citizens aren't watching, and no one is necessarily there to watch or pay attention—not to what is happening on camera, but to know more about the other questions that hold local officials to account, or the various spin-off stories that might happen out of a town hall meeting.
If we don't have the boots on the ground in every local community, then are we really able to generate the kinds of local news that perhaps isn't quite as interesting? It's not going to have the same number of clicks and reach the trending top of Google or Facebook, but it is nonetheless important for the people at that very local level.