Forbes.com's Answer

I sent a link to my previous post to Jim Spanfeller this morning and was surprised to get an immediate reply:

I am on the road right now as and such don't have the full time at this moment to give your post the time it deserves. Hopefully next week will permit that.

But to your suggestions I can tell you that yes we do every single one of them and a few more.

That all said, while we have much more transparency then ever and as such there is more "science" in the process, the job of an editor still involves a lot of art. Which is where your thoughts about red sweaters come in.

In any event more later. In the meantime let me close by saying thanks for taking the time to review and comment on our site. It truly is much appreciated.

So while the site does heavily use page views, there is apparently a broader context. This does raise an interesting question, though: how are journalists going to adapt to publications becoming more driven by business necessities? The heyday of journalism as a "public trust" was largely supported by newspapers making levels of profit that most people today would consider unconscionable because for certain types of advertising they were often the only game in town and charged what the market would bear. Now editors and reporters no longer have the insulation of luxurious financial success.