I see ads everywhere I go, in every media I consume. Television, Print, and Radio constantly present me with a barrage of ads that attempt to sell me a product I don't want, don't care about, and more often then not; do not need.
I block ads because of the latter reason listed above. I don't want to find people I went to high school with, I don't want to meet refreshing singles in my area, I don't want to participate in a contest for some product... I want my content!
To Mr. Fisher, About four paragraphs into your ed. piece you say someone always brings in the argument pitting traditional media advertising against "new media" and you mention relevant factors such as potential audience. TIVO, Sirius/XM those are two technologies that can allow the consumer to experience the content they want to enjoy relatively ad-free. These technologies cost money to the consumer to enjoy. People pay because there are no ads.
If your content is worth all the money that it gets from advertising, and according to your article, it is. Then charge for your content. That will be the quickest way to see if you really have a top quality publication. This is the internet, old-skool rules still in some way apply; advertisements still bring in money.