Andrew Sullivan’s The Dish Going Independent

I predict success, given the size and (deserved) loyalty of his audience. But I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss advertising:

The decision on advertising was the hardest, because obviously it provides a vital revenue stream for almost all media products. But we know from your emails how distracting and intrusive it can be; and how it often slows down the page painfully. And we’re increasingly struck how advertising is dominated online by huge entities, and how compromising and time-consuming it could be for so few of us to try and lure big corporations to support us. We’re also mindful how online ads have created incentives for pageviews over quality content.

All true, given the advertising that is sold by sites like Time, The Atlantic, and The Dish’s current host publication, The Daily Beast. But that’s not the only way to sell advertising. DF, among other notable examples, is living proof that advertising can be quick-loading, noticeable but un-distracting, and unrelated to the corrupting influence of pageviews.

★ Wednesday, 2 January 2013