Sometimes those sites even disclose this upfront (or add disclosures at the bottom)

One example among very many (this is where the money goes)

Summary: There used to be a time when news sites, including Linux.com, actually investigated things; now it's almost entirely PR, sometimes paid for by the Linux Foundation for its proprietary software sponsors (openwashing and greenwashing)

THE technical news is slow. Very slow. It's not that nothing is happening. There's just less interest or vastly lower incentive to actually write about it, to cover current affairs.

Was this predictable?

Certainly.

Judging by trends alone, even well before COVID-19, it seemed rather inevitable.

So what exactly is causing this? Why is it that amid many technical and technological developments press/media dedicated to this domain perishes? Why are we left with so many awful sites that rather than analyse issues are mostly repeating what corporate marketing departments put out there?

I mean, look at Linux.com. Look at that farce! What on Earth is that?!?!

"...it's hard to push ads and spam disguised as 'news' and 'reports' because sooner or later readers realise what's going on and then simply walk away."The Linux Foundation has very big budget (well over $100,000,000 per year by now), but it has turned Linux.com into a spam site. It pays one person to pretends that the site isn't a fossil (by bumping up publication dates every now and then). No wonder actual supporters of Linux (and GNU) are growing impatient. The sole editor there runs a spammy site himself. What a scam. What an utter embarrassment to Linux...

There's no lack of money, there's just lack of will/desire to allocate it to press that can hold Power accountable. The PR industry keeps growing, taking its toll on actual journalism if not hijacking what used to be news sites. No wonder a lot of people reject them and refuse to read them; it's hard to push ads and spam disguised as 'news' and 'reports' because sooner or later readers realise what's going on and then simply walk away.

"Apparently it was partly the fault of Larry Augustin, who trusted Zemlin et al to look after that site."Months ago we quoted actual users of Linux (and GNU) saying that it would be better -- for GNU/Linux at least -- if Linux.com just shut down (rather than carry on doing what it does at present). Linux.com represents actual users of Linux (and GNU) as much as the Linux Foundation does, i.e. not at all. If they don't want to use that valuable domain to do serious work, as it did for two whole decades, relinquish control and give it to someone who cares (and actually uses GNU/Linux). Apparently it was partly the fault of Larry Augustin, who trusted Zemlin et al to look after that site. Augustin works for Jeff Bezos right now (yes, Amazon) and he doesn't seem to care about GNU/Linux, either. They rake in millions in salaries, so Linux as a brand worked out well for them. ⬆