The financial pressures of the internet.We have touched on that from time to time, including with regard to Andrew Sullivan’s modified-paywall, Blogonomics and independence.There is an urge to do what the “absolute worst” designed website on the internet does, and load up with pop-overs and bury the content in ads:
At least The Atlantic didn’t opt for the passive “Mistakes were made” in its mea culpa today. After taking a beating on Twitter and in the on-line community, the magazine pulled a controversial ad for the Church of Scientology and apologized to its readers:
We screwed up. It shouldn’t have taken a wave of constructive criticism — but it has — to alert us that we’ve made a mistake, possibly several mistakes. We now realize that as we explored new forms of digital advertising, we failed to update the policies that must govern the decisions we make along the way. It’s safe to say that we are thinking a lot more about these policies after running this ad than we did beforehand. In the meantime, we have decided to withdraw the ad until we figure all of this out. We remain committed to and enthusiastic about innovation in digital advertising, but acknowledge—sheepishly—that we got ahead of ourselves. We are sorry, and we’re working very hard to put things right.
I can’t find a link to it, but there was a great cartoon by Don Bousquet, the Rhode cartoonist, of the highway sign over the interstate upon entering Rhode Island:
WELCOME TO RHODE ISLANDMake Us An Offer
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