I've been reading through Walter Neale's 1964 paper "The Peculiar Economics of Professional Sports." One of the peculiarities he discusses is what he terms "the fourth estate benefit." The "fourth estate" has historically referred to newspapers, magazines, over-the-air and cable television news channels. Basically, "the fourth estate benefit" refers to the money the press makes off of sports, even though sports can occur without the press covering it but the press coverage cannot exist without the sports.
Anyways, what about websites such as this humble blog? Can I be so bold as to claim membership for this blog in the fourth estate? Should I?