This is already a problem with old media; The Daily Telegraph newspaper here in the Uk recently ignored a story about fraud and corruption at HSBC because of co

This is already a problem with old media; The Daily Telegraph newspaper here in the Uk recently ignored a story about fraud and corruption at HSBC because of commercial interests (although they claim otherwise). You assert that paywalls aren't working; as someone who has worked for two online publishing businesses whose models rely on a paywall, I disagree. There IS an issue with general interest content, but even that, I believe, is being resolved, albeit slowly. I think the market (or at least part of it) is slowly adjusting to the idea of paying for quality content. When micropayments eventually become a thing, this will only accelerate. There are alternatives to bot those models. Bear in mind that not every website needs to make a huge profit. Many in the early days took no income whatsoever. Donations and merchandising are popular small income streams for many blogs. Not all advertising is objectionable; The Deck ad network, for example, provides advertising that is tasteful and unobtrusive (much like a polished version of Google AdWords). Finally, content-based advertising CAN work, providing it's clearly demarcated, highly relevant, and entertaining in its own right. I must've listened to many hours of advertising via TWIT podcasts, and I don't really resent any of it.