A reader writes:
I don't know if I am alone in my approach but, having risen to adulthood in the digital era, I have been connected to institutions through bloggers.
Consequently, I have subscribed to print magazines (after having bought an iPad, using Google Reader, and subscribing to RSS feeds) because I have had the opportunity to engage with individuals at these publications through their blogs and have wanted to support the institutions that provide a platform for the production of good content. I didn't subscribe to The Atlantic until I had read your blog for more than a year and now I look forward to receiving my magazine every month. And the same is true for other institutions as well. Maybe I am outside the norm but instead of starting my day with the NYT or WSJ - I start it with bloggers who are, consequently, attached to institutions that I have come to respect.
Simply put, maybe the staples of this era are the individual journalists and bloggers who are great at what they do.
Another writes:
Not sure if you'd be be interested in this, but I wrote a six part (!) series recently on the importance of creating a solid blogger network based on the quality of the writers rather than page-views in the realm of soccer writing. I proposed a partnership between newspapers and independent soccer bloggers for mutual benefit. Sort of caused a minor stir in the soccer blogging community, including a lengthy article discussing the idea in venerable British football magazine When Saturday Comes. Anyway, yeah.