In what is perhaps the most oxymoronic headline ever, the Guardian reports that the latest proponent of the death-of-dinosaur-media is none other than ol’ Rupert himself:

Rupert Murdoch last night sounded the death knell for the era of the media baron, comparing today’s internet pioneers with explorers such as Christopher Columbus and John Cabot and hailing the arrival of a “second great age of discovery”.

The News Corp media magnate nurtures a long-held distaste for “the establishment” but last night confided to one of the few clubs to which he does belong - The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers - that he may be among the last of a dying breed.

“Power is moving away from the old elite in our industry - the editors, the chief executives and, let’s face it, the proprietors,” said Mr Murdoch, having flown into London from New York after celebrating his 75th birthday on Saturday.

Don’t you just love it when the man who symbolizes the most powerful and elite of all media barons rails against the power of the elite media barons?

This guy must hang out on Myspace too much.