
And so, now, back to the problem: the same media that has told, or assisted in telling, the story of the internet over the last two decades, and the epochal companies that are rising through it, is being absorbed by its subject, which needs it less and less. In some ways, this change has been surprisingly seamless: an industry supported by one set of adver…
But this is changing. I’ve been arguing for some time now that online media companies — and in particular news operations — are, in some cases intentionally but in most cases not, losing a degree of ownership over their audiences. On one hand, the number of people they reach is potentially greater than ever; on the other, they’re reaching these people, as well as much of their old audience, through much larger third parties. That’s just at the level of audience — on the other side of their offices, advertising staff is co…
…ompany with editorial products,” which was in turn less credible than claims from Vox and BuzzFeed. But even those companies have turned out to be more like publishers that learned from the tech industry — advertisi…ompany with editorial products,” which was in turn less credible than claims from Vox and BuzzFeed. But even those companies have turned out to be more like publishers that learned from the tech industry — advertising businesses with a sharp eye on what was going on next door.