Newspaper Ads: Fraud and Conspiracy?

I just got back from the SABEW conference of business writers, where BNET and Sales Machine won journalism awards.  While there, I attended a session discussing the bleak future of newspapers, which are are folding up all over.  Most attendees thought it was the economy but I’m not buying it.  IMHO, the real reason is that advertisers have finally figured out that newspapers, in collusion with clueless marketers and unscrupulous ad execs, have been fleecing them for decades. For me, the telling moment of the conference came when I asked a room full of newspaper people the simple question: “How many of you have actually read a newspaper advertisement?”  Less than 5 percent admitted to having done so. Think about…

Source: BNET