Taking part in a panel today at the Digital Magazine Forum in Manhattan, Peter Rojas, founder of Engadget, made one thing very clear, "We would never charge for any content. Not as long as I'm involved."

Rojas went on to explain that Engadget derives a great deal of its traffic from its high Google rankings. If a firewall was put up in front of its archives, that ranking would drop, and so would the page views and Technorati ranking. He also wants to create a place where users can go back and research any product they may be interested in buying, for free. Rojas was outspoken about the trust he believes he has earned from his readers, and the strict journalistic standards he has brought to the blog.

The main focus of the panel was the collision between new and old media online. Specifically, what effect do blogs have on magazines which are trying to find their way in the new digital world. The Deal's Tom Groppe talked about content aggregation, and using the digital medium to bring all types of content together in one place, to ultimately meet the end user's needs.

During the Q&A portion of the panel there was a heated exchange when a member of the audience suggested that blogs, and bloggers, couldn't be trusted as a viable source of information because they didn't have the same brand recognition as a magazine or newspaper. The overwhelming response from the panel was that all forms of media need to earn the trust of readers, and there's no reason bloggers can't accomplish this in the same manner newspapers and magazines did years ago. Two members of the panel, Peter Rojas and Om Malik, have done just that.

My two cents on the convergence of blogs and traditional media: Blogs serve a different segment in the news world. They are usually faster than traditional media, if you take a look at Techmeme, you will get a glimpse into what the major traditional publications will be covering in a day or two. Blogs get the news out quicker in a more raw format, then the traditional media fills in the holes, and provides some perspective for the news. A great example of how blogs and the MSM compliment each other is the AOL data leak. The news broke in the blogosphere on August 7. Two days later, the New York Times tracked down one of the affected AOL members and put a face to the story. — Brian Ward

Technorati tags: peter rojas, om malik, blogs.