nah, the saddest part is that old media doesn't realize why Huffington Post, Drudge, and others, are in and they are not.

that being people are no longer stuck with a news and opinion source which does not appeal to them, either intellectually or politically.

It doesn't matter how well you package it, if the customer doesn't like the message putting flowers on it won't make it more appealing to them

If content providers only tailor their views toward reader sentiment, what you will end up with is a self-pleasing knowledge bubble in which you rule out anything that doesn't please you as non-existence. That's more of a social disease than the path to a better future.

Think there will be and need to be a place for traditional type of journalism with more materials based on critical thinking. It just may not need to be on print media anymore.

The aggregation of other people's content and shameless attention grab can only last so long and it doesn't build toward any credible production of original content. Its primary purpose is to kill boredom and create marketing buzz. Shitty content may appeal to more people these days, just like Bieber might sell more records but there will always be room for quality content and engaging dialogues in this world. The challenge is all about finding a new medium and tending the old flames in a new form.

That's certainly the common wisdom these days.

But the point the report was making was that HP et al repackaged NYT content and did better with it than the NYT did themselves.

In this case it is explicitly the packaging that matters.