There’s a U.S. News and World Report poll about Sarah Palin, asking what readers think of her. It’s not surprising that newspapers and websites have polls about Palin, as she’s well-known, and typically evokes an opinion from readers. My point here isn’t about Palin, but about the website that offers the poll.
What’s surprising is that I, or anyone else, actually found a U.S. News and World Report poll on Palin, or any other topic. I saw it as a link from another website, and that means that at least two people on earth have visited the USNWR website. Add in a few family members of that website’s staff, and perhaps four or five people have taken the poll. Add in a few monkeys typing randomly on keyboards, and the total number of mammals would still be under a dozen.
Sarah Palin probably has more friends on Facebook than there are people who realize that USNWR still survives as a web-based publication. So different is the media landscape from even a decade ago, that print publications once well-known are now afterthoughts.