As the hottest summer on record in Washington, D.C., quickly comes to a close, it's interesting to note that this wind-down isn’t unique to the weather. As communications and media professionals across the city can attest, job openings in the traditional media sector are also winding down. Who hasn’t seen the cuts across all aspects of the traditional media business? Just across the river from Washington in McLean, VA, Gannett, USA Today's publisher, recently announced that they are cutting 130 jobs and refocusing their efforts more towards their digital business. (GA CEO Eric Bovim blogged separately about this earlier last week.)

So, what do the Gannett layoffs tell us? Well, for one, it tells us that there are now fewer and fewer reporters covering larger and larger beats. And this, in turn, tells us that utilizing this traditional medium is no longer traditional. The online environment and social media platforms have quickly become the new standard. So, is the mainstream media dead? Absolutely not -- but are they quickly becoming secondary to the digital beats? I think this is quickly becoming the case.

One thing we know for sure is that online content can set the Internet and social media channels ablaze with excitement and can also drive mainstream media coverage. And with the ongoing purge of traditional media outlets as we know them, the wave of the future is already upon us.