Everyone else reads it

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The reason the New York Times matters isn't about the delivery of news (it's old by the time it arrives) or even the analysis (which is often spotty or wrong or banal or biased or boring). No, the reason it matters is because everyone else reads it.

That's the reason certain trade shows matter.

Or industry journals or blogs.

You can change the definition of "everyone" and customize it for your industry or passion, but the fact is, we need to read what everyone else is reading in order to have a sense of being in sync. If it's in there, it matters, because everyone else read it.

If a publication like this doesn't exist, go ahead and create it, because you'll profit.

The internet eliminates the friction and the barriers that made it natural for there to be just a few media outlets per sector. This change led to an explosion in choices. But as things settle down, we're busy searching for the thing that 'everyone else' who matters reads.

The moment 'everyone else' stops reading Conde Nast magazines or Publishers Weekly or other trade journals, they fold. It'll happen almost overnight, because reading them in isolation, without a connection to the community just isn't worth it.