“This year,” MarketWatch’s Jon Friedman writes today, “I am marking my 10th anniversary as a media-beat columnist.”

In taking “a look back on a tumultuous decade of news,” Friedman talks about the ever-changing “faces and newsmakers on the scene.”

He also says the role of media critic has evolved, and not favorably. “My biggest criticism of today’s media critics is that they lack depth. Opinions alone can’t represent thoughtfulness. Flash has replaced substance, and not many have any sort of institutional memory. Gossip is king.”

Friedman wraps up his 10-year anniversary column with — what else? — a Top 10 list. Among the “most intriguing media stories of the past decade”: News Corp acquiring Dow Jones, Katie Couric leaving Today for the CBS Evening News, and the Jon Stewart-Jim Cramer “smackdown.”