“The public water system is somewhat unpleasant to think about. Basically, the stuff you flush down the toilet gets sent through a filtering system. That system ‘treats’ the sewage until what remains is sufficiently pure to send back to you as drinking water.

As content intermediaries, publishers perform an analogous function. Individual software writers, authors, and musicians produce something close to raw sewage. The computer programs, books, and music that people buy are closer to drinkable water.” Arnold Kling

—Content is CrapTCS)

A rather icky image, but no Internet personality is known for subtlety. The title is a reference to Bill Gate’s 1996 essay “Content is King.”