I am Ahab, and the media economy is my whale. What you are about to read is the consequence of my own, personal, perfect storm.

Fraud. Non-viewability. Low CTRs. Banner blindness. For years they were treated as nuisances, transitory and manageable. What we now face is a bona fide existential threat.

In a society that does not distinguish between notoriety and celebrity, that makes icons and even anti-heroes out of villains, that rewards obscure, murderous misfits with instant worldwide recognition, the very process of basic reporting makes the media accessories after the fact of this atrocity, and before the fact of the next one.