The book received mixed reviews. Some traditional sources gave the book positive or neutral reviews while the book received generally negative reactions from bloggers. "The New York Times" ran an article by Michiko Kakutani calling the book "a shrewdly argued jeremiad" and also saying that the book "is eloquent on the fallout that free, user-generated materials is having on traditional media." She wrote that the author "wanders off his subject in the later chapters of the book" but broadly "writes with acuity and passion".