Why This Is the Age of Publishers, Not Journalists

In a Wonkblog post from November, Ezra Klein highlighted a reality few journalists seem to grasp: Facebook drives much more traffic to news sites than Twitter.

The post was entitled “Why do journalists prefer Twitter to Facebook?” — a question Klein answered with: “The reason, I think, is that Twitter is simply more useful for our jobs.”

Utility, however, does not necessarily translate into traffic. Twitter has made some journalists more famous, but publisher-friendly sites like Facebook and Pinterest drive many more readers. That may explain why The Washington Post was ultimately willing to let Klein go and why other publishers should be similarly sanguine as more journalistic superstars jump ship. Read more...