"Pity the poor New York Times. They are indeed doing right by their readers, if not by their stockholders. On May 6, 2008, there were 2,524 square inches of column space devoted to news. A year earlier, before the slimmer page width and heftier contents listings, the number was 2,535 square inches. Although there was about 11 percent less ad space (3,359 square inches versus 3,839 square inches), the amount of news remained the same. If we go back to the supposedly halcyon days of 1998, when the average Times reader was about as likely to get his news from the Internet as Senator Ted “Series of Tubes” Stevens is today, the difference is even more pronounced. The advertising climate was, in industry parlance, kick-ass; the front section of the Times contained 5,549 square inches of ads. But despite this revenue bonanza, there was a meager 2,188 square inches of news. The (somewhat) surprising verdict: The Times of today has more news, and way less advertising." [VF]