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> Every day results in another example of why free platforms supported by advertising might not be viable a long term solution. Not just free platforms. No pub
by Hoasi 8y ago
> Every day results in another example of why free platforms supported by advertising might not be viable a long term solution.
Not just free platforms. No publication supported by advertising is a viable long-term solution let alone a desirable one. Advertising-based publishing was never a good idea. The current state of the press is a good example of that too. Unfortunately, there are not that many viable alternatives. People would pay for good journalism, not sure they would or should pay to reblog memes and other people's posts.
- reaperducer 8y agoNo publication supported by advertising is a viable long-term solution Define what you mean by “long-term.” America has a number of ad-supported publications that have been publishing for over 250 years. There are probably older ones in Europe and elsewhere.
- Hoasi 8y agoYes, thank you, I should have been more precise. Within the context of this Tumblr discussion, that comment refers to online platforms and I believe the comment above does too. Indeed the ad-supported model is or was viable in print for a long time, although we started to see a shift there as well. Today the print media is struggling, ad revenue may no longer be enough to keep most publications afloat. The fact this model still works for some titles and was viable for centuries doesn't make it particularly good either. With an ad-based structure, the independent press ideal was flawed from the start.