I’ve been sighted on this niche for many, many years.

“Advertisers are increasingly looking for targeted ad programs that reach specific groups, and the reality is that social networks such as Facebook and Twitter and web-native publishers are seen as better places to achieve that.”

I think something in that picture is very attractive. But there’s a down-side:

“This is the flip-side of the transformation that some newspapers like the NYT have already undergone, where the revenue provided by readers now exceeds the revenue provided by advertising. While that may seem like it would provide great freedom to pursue quality, it also means the the paper is even more beholden to a small group of readers, as Clay Shirky has argued.”

I agree. It’s a niche. And even a viable niche can be seriously limiting.

via Is Mark Thompson what the NYT really needs right now? — Tech News and Analysis.