If you work in new media, old media, any kind of media or are even remotely interested in the topic, then you know that http://www.iwantmedia.com is a must-read site.

Behind on who's making moves in interactive TV? You go there. You catch up. Curious about how other media outlets approached the bitch-fest called AOL Time Warner's shareholder meeting? IWantMedia logged the wall-to-wall coverage, including dispatches from reporters the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sent to New York to cover the holler-fest (CNN connection maybe?).

Maybe the reason that freelance writer Patrick Phillips launched the site is because he's from that show-me state, Missouri, and he wanted to, you know, show media.

Nah. The former Hearst Media employee and PR vet just saw the need to make sense of the exploding media industry and acted. Two years later, the site he launched as a kind of hobby generates over 2,000 visits a day, mainly subscribers from employees of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Mediaweek, Primedia's Media Central, Business Week, The Economist, and media bankers at J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank, to name a few.

AtNewYork.com chatted with Phillips about the site's mission, including how he manages his media obsession.

Q: First, can you tell us about your latest distribution deal?

IWantMedia has entered into two distribution agreements. One is to provide daily news feeds (from IwantMedia) to the American Press Institute (Web site), of Reston, Virginia, where they are devoted to training and development issues for journalists. And we have an agreement to supply a feed to Media Bistro's Web site (http://www.mediabistro.com), where they track media and offer training and job information too. I'm thrilled to be affiliated with both, and to be compensated. It means another revenue stream.

Q: To go with the ads you sell, yes? Not bad for a one-person operation. How did you start this?

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One of the reasons I did my site is there's so much going on with the media landscape, with the Internet and media consolidation, all these new devices and channels -- PDAs, ebooks, satellite TV. It all makes for a tumultuous time for communications. I think people who work in all areas of the media are concerned about what all of this activity means for their business and their livelihoods. So, my hope is that IwantMedia will keep these people informed, as the media landscape continues to evolve.

So the site is more than about journalism. It's taking a broad view of media. We get a lot of ad buyers who come to the site (for example). With all the belt tightening that has been going on, people who work on content sites are interested to see the impact the business side is making. My goal is to take a broad approach with the content that goes up there.

Q: What do you make of the blogging phenonomon?

I think it's terrific. I still don't think anyone's doing what I'm doing. The journalist blogs, for example are focused on politics or (the industry). Or they are run as personal blogs. Here, they get to immerse themselves in (subjects).

Q: What's your take on whether the convergence of media will actually happen?

The jury is still out in my opinion. Will people want just the one (tv) box and will they really want to interact with their TV sets? I don't know. I don't think anyone does.

Q: What's your latest media obsession?

Knowing when to turn it off. I think its good to take a break from bring constantly connected. I find media fascinating, the way it shapes our culture and our world view, but it's good to step back and turn off some of these channels. It's a healthy thing. So there's not one particular type of media that I'm particularly fascinated with. I view them all with a bit of trepidation. All these media devices are supposed to make your life better. But (in many cases), your world just speeds up, and the demand gets higher.