I invited Paul to write a guest DaveNet piece, and here it is. Innumerable decisions are made along the way that affect not only what you read, but whether you get to read it at all. Traditionally, there have been legitimate reasons for packaging information. Because content was necessarily circumscribed by length, largely out of consideration for distribution and cost, decisions had to be made on what a physical product should contain. Length and distribution requirements no longer burden publication considerations.
Incremental costs associated with additional volume are minuscule.
Yet for the most part, even on the Internet, traditional production values remain in place. The articles read like print articles. The online publication mirrors the style, values and biases of its print counterpart. Certainly reasons exist to continue the gatekeeping role. Audiences appreciate production values.