Quote Originally Posted by SoonerDave View Post
Well, yes and no. There has to be at least a minimal value-add proposition such that you say, "well, I'm not selling *just* an ad vehicle," because few if anyone would buy it. News was that vehicle. Back when classifieds were still the primary means for selling things second-hand, it was a bias-neutral income source. The presence or absence of a $5-10 ad for your used car was of little relevance. But as bigger advertisers came in, those who bought quarter, half, or even full pages, that influence started skewing certain kinds of coverage - just like it did/does for TV news. So I get where you're coming from.

The key, however, was that back in the day, advertising revenue was so diverse that it was difficult (not impossible) for one kind of ad source to influence what was covered. Now *all* sources of ad revenue are fallling off, and subscriber revenue was never intended in that business model to be a substantial cover for production costs. With those rates going up, content dropping off as costs are cut, it's a deadly embrace without the print media embracing the web, but social media provides a legitimate, quicker, albeit unvetted source of rapidly disseminated information.

I would love to have been a sports writer/journalist (path not taken kinda thing), but in the midst of what looks like a dying industry, it probably worked out just as well that I went a different direction. I would imagine the stress of being a print journalist right now purely from a paying the bills and "how long will this job last" standpoint could be pretty miserable.
I was being sort of glib, but yeah, I agree with you. I get more up to date and informed information and news from this website than I do on newsok. I mean, the featured article on newsok.com is "Metta World Peace Sexually Assaulted by Ghost at Skirvin?"

Hard hitting, that.