Online Traction-

Some people call it gossip, others sneer and say it is nothing more
than a fleeting trend. I'm still suffering with the flu to think too
much on my own answer but I thought this piece by Dan Gilmore was
priceless. -KevinFrom Dan Gilmore: Listening Too MuchIn
the 1980s, when the online possibilities of news publishing were
starting to become clearer, a smart man told me something that I
started telling other journalists: "One of these days, we're going to find out what people actually want to read." He
was referring to the granular nature of data. We can't know what people
are reading in the printed newspaper. We can know exactly what they're
choosing to read online -- or at least what stories they're starting to
read online. Someone has to decide what stories get to the top of the first page. Maybe it's editors. Maybe it's the community. If
popularity rules, then the nature of the community will be what counts
if we believe in serious journalism. Attract people who believe what
they read in supermarket tabloids and on Fox News, and they'll make
decisions in a certain manner. Attract other kinds of folks, and
they'll make other kinds of decisions.