Here’s an excellent article I just found via MovableBLOG. If you have any interest in web publishing you must read Daring Fireball’s Independent Days article. It covers several topics: Google’s AdSense, the poor design of most corporate web sites, why there’s so much sensationalism in (corporate) online reporting, etc. Here’s but a small sample:
The web is where independents shine. Independent web sites tend to look better and are better produced. Their URLs are even more readable. This isn’t bluster about the future, this is a description of today. With a text editor and an Apache web server, you’re on equal footing with any web site in the world. Even if you can’t design worth a lick, the default templates for most major weblog packages are decidedly more readable and better designed than typical corporate media web sites. For short-form opinion and analysis, the web cannot be beaten as a writing and reading medium. The immediacy, linkability, lack of word count restraints (this works both ways, short and long) and direct connection between writer and reader puts the independent producer at a decided advantage over media corporations.