• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 13, 2015

“Is Media Dead Too?” panel moderator Bob Garfield asked the elephant in the room question to New York Times Executive Vice President of Advertising Meredith Kopit Levien, which led to some interesting answers -- back and forth.

The elephant, of course, is big data, and the fact that “in a data rich world,” brands can target consumers directly via cookie-based behavioral targeting for “pennies on the dollar” and can reach a valuable lead like Bob Garfield at the New York Times or on nautystewardesses.com.”

The latter of which, Levien said to Garfield, “you’re much more engaged.”

“Can I just qualify,” Garfield admonished her, “I am the moderator. I will make the smartass remarks.”

On a serious note, Levien defended the case for reaching audiences like Bob Garfield through the Times vs. another less savory site.

“I don’t accept the notion that all supply in digital is infinite,” she said, adding, “I don’t think quality supply is infinite.”

She predicted that the industry will eventually move away from the “faulty metrics” that don’t enable brands and agencies to differentiate quality from non-quality publishing environments.