These are the kinds of questions that I've been getting recently, not only from public-relations people but also from company executives I speak with for stories. They'd prefer we didn't draw attention to the plight of certain companies or dig further to understand what led to the downturn in online advertising. Some people in the industry would rather we reporters ignore their problems and focus only on the promise of the Net.
Every industry wants bad news to go away as soon as possible.
What's different, though, is the sense that bad news about the Net spreads faster and so has a bigger impact than negative stories about other industries. The natural conclusion, or so the argument goes, is that responsible journalists should fight the bad-news momentum with stories of scrappy companies doing well. In early February, Michael Tchong, founder of the Iconocast service that dishes up statistics, news, and debates about online marketing, issued a call to arms. We know the Internet was material in helping propel itself to lofty heights. This same engine is now hard at work spreading negative news.