Yahoo! is Still Kicking and They Can Evolve

I assume that most of the pointers to the New York Times article about the rebirth of former Jane editor, Brandon Holley, as a blogger are going to focus on the insidery Condé Nast angle, but I took a couple of other things from the piece.

First of all, despite the memes to the contrary, Yahoo! retains a vaunted position in the industry with an almost unrivaled power to launch a high-traffic site. And, they've finally learned a lesson that I've been screaming about for more than a decade; If one of the world's largest internet companies can't embrace the telecommute, then why should anyone else try?

Unfortunately, they may have learned that last lesson a little late, but due to what we know from the first, it could be too early to say die.

Using Hot Photos, Sex & Sexism to Generate Clicks

Last December, Glynnis MacNicol wrote a diatribe for Mediaite in which she calls into question the use of sexism to cause outrage in the blogosphere, which translates into clicks.

To support her thesis, Ms. MacNicol revisited the idea of using sex to generate traffic and she linked-out the Huffington Post's reprint of the Pirelli calendar, plus an article from the Washington City Paper, in which the author links to several HuffPo slideshows of nipple slips to illustrate a similar theme.

Yesterday, I questioned the wisdom of Ted Rall's most recent animation. Though among his "tips" to save newspapers was a slide that read; "Another key to survival: Pop culture core readers love".

Somewhere between Mr. Rall's suggestion and the common knowledge that sex sells, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution must have taken something to heart because last night, they published to their website, which I assume is in today's print edition, an enlargeable photo and repackaged press release from Playboy giving a short bio for a local girl deemed "Miss April" (pictured), along with notice of a casting call.

Semi-Related: Miss Nebraska Brittany Jeffers promoted to KLKN anchor