That is really :
or sad to comedy effect
or so comically sad

I just have to read the comments now!

EDIT:
After a long abscence of reading View from the Wing,
The first headlines hitting my eyes written by the thought leader himself:





Yes this indeed a journalistic accountability piece befitting a though leader.

View From the Tabloid Wing?

I have to assume that if these kind of pieces on VFTW didn’t bring in the audience and the money that flows from audience involvement, then there would perhaps be more pensive material …. if that even sells as well.

The audience gets what it deserves, as we are dealing with an open market in the miles and points blogosphere.

So how is he making money?

By running up the sensational and polemical to bring in a more provincial audience to sign up for bank cards?

Evidently he has a core audience that appreciates his content and views enough ads and signs up for enough credit cards. To each their own

I think this reflects a misunderstanding of many on Flyertalk: it's fine to criticize a business, be it a blog, an airline, or hotel, about something it does that you dont like. But if it goes unchanged for years, and indeed becomes a defining feature of the business, it is safe to assume that it is not keeping the business from making money.

I am amazed and disappointed that so many flyertalk members think that the only reason to run a website is to make money. I thought that this place was more altruistic. So why can't websites be altruistic? I run mine because I believe that travel is the key to intercultural understanding and, eventually, world peace. I make only a small amount of money from it, mainly because issuers of credit cards dislike my always listing the best offers I know of, especially those not earning me any commissions.

I do not think any Flyertalk member suggested that the only reason to run a website is to make money. I'm not sure where you got that from. The most recent comments were in response to someone asking how this blog makes money.
If your blog is a step towards world peace, nothing anyone has said in this thread calls that into question. (Of course, one does not need external validation for a truly altruistic endeavor.)
As to whether Flyertalk is altruistic, I would never have used that word to define this site in my past 15 years of membership.

Sure there are altruistic projects out there... Gcmap and awardnexus come to mind. When the affiliate income (primarily from shilling credit cards) exploded in the early 2010s, most bloggers in the space set up LLCs for their blogs and the altruism went out the window. Even the ones that claim to be altruistic splice in a link to amazon or a credit card portal here and there. The money is just too tempting

Nailed it.

Can you elaborate? Why was setting up an LLC the next act after the affiliate income dried up?

'Exploded' in the sense of 'exponentially increased' Not dried up.

🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

My bad! Guess we weren't on the same page.

How is awardnexus altruistic?

I've been blogging since 2004 and doing credit card affiliate marketing since 2006. Was always surprised that more bloggers didn't join the programs sooner, but Ingy was definitely an early adopter as well. It's only a matter of time before you realize you can monetize your hobbies and pursuits to justify the time invested in them.

I guess it may depend upon what someone would categorize as "affiliate income". When the proportion of some bloggers' revenue shifted to bank card referral revenue being the plurality of the revenue (and income), some bloggers getting more serious about the business -- and also tax-adjusted personal income outcomes (and perhaps liability concerns) -- would be the natural course of things for those who came in with very limited (or perhaps even no) business/entrepreneurial experience and then found themselves with a business and not just a hobby with hobby income.

Some bloggers got into setting up LLCs for their blogs as the $$$$ signs filled the eyes, courtesy of revenue coming in from bank card referrals and other advertising/marketing/affinity partnerships sending money their way.