And while advertisers paid less, there was always more stuff for people to read. All kinds of writing poured onto the web. The median post was much worse than a random story plucked from the top tier of magazines, but the best stuff was and is as good as anything. Drawing on that huge base, there is always a lot of “best stuff” to read now…”

Gerd adds: this sums it up pretty well! March 06, 2013 at 11:42PM

Magazine-advertising pages dropped 8.2% in 2012 and are down 32% since 2008, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. And digital subscribers remain a minority: Most of the big publishers expect only about 10% of their total circulation to be digital by around 2015, up from the low single-digit percentages today.

Gerd adds: ‘train consumers to spend more money on paid content’ ? Well… Good luck ! How about reinventing advertising for the SoLoMo audience that is their future? January 19, 2013 at 04:18AM

In previous year-end lists, amateur viral videos at least shared the spotlight with videos that were professionally produced. This year, however, only one video, a father calling out his daughter for a Facebook post, went ultra-viral (at least enough to make the top 10). In addition to the Facebook father video, the top 10 saw four music videos (including “Gangnam Style” and “Call Me Maybe”), two comedy sketches, one commercial, one amazing feat, and one caused-based. video. December 21, 2012 at 04:43PM

In previous year-end lists, amateur viral videos at least shared the spotlight with videos that were professionally produced. This year, however, only one video, a father calling out his daughter for a Facebook post, went ultra-viral (at least enough to make the top 10). In addition to the Facebook father video, the top 10 saw four music videos (including “Gangnam Style” and “Call Me Maybe”), two comedy sketches, one commercial, one amazing feat, and one caused-based. video. December 21, 2012 at 04:43PM

Google can hardly be blamed for the recession, declining readership, and slumping advertising revenue. Online advertising has not offset the decline of print ads in newspapers. In 2011 newspaper advertising globally amounted to $76 billion, down 41% since 2007, according to the World Association of Newspapers. Only 2.2% of newspapers’ advertising revenues last year came from digital platforms, and even these are vulnerable to ad-blocking software December 05, 2012 at 11:15PM

Finally, we cannot negate the role that traditional media companies play in producing what is essentially a public good. Given its special status we citizens must also re-think whether or not we want to rely on for-profit and sometimes agenda-driven media companies as well as state-controlled organizations to filter the information we consume. November 13, 2012 at 01:55PM