The day had to come when content farms realized there are only so many articles they could churn out about how long to let paint dry or how to get a bump out of a sweater before they – and everybody else – had had enough.

For Demand Media, that day came last week.

According to Business Insider, the Santa Monica, Calif., company sent an email to freelance contributors informing them that for the foreseeable future, the controversial publisher of eHow.com and other traffic-driven content sites is scaling back on quick hit “how-to” other assignments. Instead, the company told contributors, it will focus on “more targeted categories and other forms of content such as slide shows, video series and feature articles.”

Did Google contribute to the change when it switched to a new search engine algorithm code named Panda? Yes and no. Panda sniffs out and passes over material that content farms churn out by the thousands and tens of thousands a day. When Google first launched Panda last spring, eHow wasn’t affected. That changed with a later update, according to WebProNews, prompting Demand Media officials to launch a clean-up effort. Later, during an August call with analysts who follow the stock, Demand Media officials said they’d removed 300,000 eHow articles.

News of Demand Media’s decision to cut down on what it’s assigning spread quickly through the freelance community. I saw notices of the Business Insider story within hours of its posting on two different writer message boards.

Demand Media Chief Revenue Officer Joanne Bradford attempted to put a positive spin on the development, saying the company remains “one of the largest pools of writing assignments available in the world,” in an official statement to Business Insider. “We don’t feel like it’s that dramatic of a change because it’s not like every assignment was being taken. It’s all about quality for us.”

But reaction from current and former Demand Media writers was mixed. “I feel bad for people who have nothing to fall back on now, but are you serious?” one writer who’s worked for Demand Media posted in a message on one of those writer message boards. “Who didn’t know this party was going to end, especially once Panda hit?”

Another writer, apparnetly one who still works for Demand, wrote in a comment on the Business Insider piece: “Earlier in the year, (Demand) ramped up its production to record-high levels and hired on lots of new writers. They are still advertising, too, LOL. I’ve seen available assignments as high as tens of thousands for a long time, just in the general title pool, but never in the four-digits until this summer. Now it’s in the low three-digits area, which means the titles are all but gone from there. Some are still coming in, but not many. This IS a huge change…”

What do you think: if you work for Demand Media, how is this affecting your paycheck? If you write for other content sites, are you concerned they’ll follow suit?

For once, there was good news mixed in with the bad. For media companies, 2010 marked the beginning of a modest recovery after two years of falling ad revenue, layoffs and a wholesale revamping of business models. The industry’s never going back to what it was, and that’s not an altogether bad thing. But after non-stop doom and gloom in 2008 and 2009, this year was downright cheery. Staffs may have been lean but layoffs stopped, and some companies started hiring again. Freelancers covering beats such as business, technology and the environment reported getting more work. And everybody was abuzz over digital and mobile initiatives.

This year saw big Internet companies jump into hyperlocal news, several high profile nonprofit news ventures take off and Demand Media, the controversial operator of SEO-based Internet content sites, take the first steps toward selling its shares to the public, though that now appears to be stalled as the company deals with questions about its accounting.

For the first time, companies spent more advertising online than they did in print. Tribune Co., parent to the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune among others, withstood an internal scandal and ensuing management shakeup but appears to be close to climbing out of bankruptcy, finally. Tina Brown’s Daily Beast bought Newsweek, chasing Arianna Huffington‘s HuffPo for online world domination. The New York Times continued to lead digital newsroom innovators, but local dailies and online-only publications are catching up.

It was a year in which the news was dominated the economy, unemployment, health-care reform, the Census, Afghanistan, Haiti, North Korea, mid-term elections, and most recently, secret U.S. government documents made public by WikiLeaks – all of which you could read about on Facebook, Twitter, iPhone, Droid, BlackBerry, iPad or the portable electronic device of your choice.

Here’s my list of 10 top media industry trends of 2010.

1. Hyperlocal news goes big time – If 2009 was the year anybody could start a hyperlocal news site, 2010 was the year the big guys entered the picture. Nowhere was this more apparent than Patch, AOL’s ambitious hyperlocal experiment, for which the Internet giant said it would hire a total of 500 writer/editors by the end of 2010. Yahoo responded by acquiring Associated Content, and Examiner.com’s billionaire owner Philip Anschutz struck a deal to provide local content for Thomson Reuters’ new general news (wire) service. Meanwhile, independent hyperlocal operations in cities such as Seattle and San Diego continued to grow and collect accolades for their work.

2. Nonprofit news sites come into their own – Back in 2008 when the economy tanked and the public decided they’d rather get their news from Jon Stewart or the Internet, pessimists predicted the demise of for-profit news organizations and welcomed nonprofits to take their place. Two years later, some of those nonprofits are hitting their stride. Among the most notable was ProPublica, which continues to collect awards for its wide-ranging investigative work, including a 2010 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina at a New Orleans medical center. Another bright spot was the Bay Citizen, the well-funded online-only nonprofit news site covering the San Francisco metro area, which launched in May. In other areas, public broadcasters such as Oregon Public Broadcasting poured money into digital initiatives to stretch their editorial efforts from the air to online.

3. Critics of content mills pile on – Critics have been dumping on Demand Media since August when the Santa Monica, California, company announced it intended to go public, with some going as far as calling the company “demon like.” That was before a Dec. 23 report on the All Things D tech blog that federal regulators were looking into the company’s accounting practices, specifically how it expenses costs for paying writers. Demand wasn’t the only so-called content farm to stir up debate. Here on WordCount, I took Suite101 to task after reading a post on the site that linked to something I’d written. Similar criticisms have been logged against other content mills such as Associated Content, Examiner.com and Helium.com.

4. Custom publishing goes digital – When advertisers pulled out of magazines and newspapers they found creative ways to spend their marketing dollars on original editorial content, spurring enormous growth in the twin businesses of content marketing and custom publishing. Some created more of those single-sponsor magazines like the kind you see in doctor’s offices. Others  - including companies such as Microsoft, Dell and American Express to name a few – created mini-websites staffed by veteran editors and reporters (like me). At the same time, companies such as Groupon and Angie’s List created in-house editorial departments or hired freelance writers to add content to what had previously been bare-bones directories or coupon  promotions. After Groupon hit the big time with its daily deals, everybody started an e-newsletter – and luckily for writers – wanted copy to put in it.

5. Hacks embrace their inner hackers – With so much of the news business moving online, a journalist who can write code (or understand it enough to work with programmers) is a journalist with a job, whether it’s on staff or freelance. The trend has seen a proliferation of formal and informal groups helping reporters get up to speed on the latest innovations in digital storytelling.  One of the biggest is the Online Journalism Association annual conference, which this fall sold out for the second year in a row. The move from print to bits and bytes has also seen the growth of Hacks and Hackers chapters in cities such as San Francisco, New York, Austin and San Diego, as well as groups in other cities, including Digital Journalism Portland and the ONA’s growing list of local meetups. Journalists who can’t get to face-to-face meetings can sign up for online training from sources such as ProPublica’s Nerd Blog, News University and Amy Webb’s KnowledgeWebb.

6. There’s a news app for that - The list of print and online publishers introducing specialized versions of their publications optimized for smartphones  or tablet computers such as the iPad became too long to track. Publishers who didn’t have a mobile app by the end of the year were working feverishly to make something available in early 2011. The New Yorker introduced its iPad app with its Oct. 4 issue, sporting a cover illustration that painter David Hockney created on – what else – his iPad. News industry sages are predicting we’ll see tablet-only, mobile first news products in 2011.

7. Collaboration is the new name of the game – In a bygone era, it would have been inconceivable for a national newspaper to contract with startup news teams to act as virtual bureaus, for one competitor to print another’s paper (without being part of a formal joint-operating agreement), or for the editor of a major daily to publish an open letter soliciting help from bloggers, freelancers and citizen journalists. That was then. Today collaboration is the name of the game and it’s taking many forms. The New York Times struck deals with news startups in San Francisco and Chicago to provide coverage in those cities. The Los Angeles Times started printing the Orange County Register. Editors such as the Oregonian’s Peter Bhatia solicited hyperlocal bloggers for help covering the paper’s circulation area. In other examples of the forms collaboration has taken, Thomson Reuters teamed up with a half-dozen partners providing sports, entertainment and local news to launch a news service to take on Associated Press and CNN, and Entrepreneur Media struck content sharing agreements with Tribune Inc., Tonic, MSNBC and HealthDay (Note: I write for SecondAct.com, which is owned by Entrepreneur.)

8. Journalists work the real-time web. The real-time Web became the journalist’s friend. Reporters use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks not just to promote their work, but to research and publish it. Reporters and freelancers crowdsource examples for stories they’re researching; track sources, companies and organizations on their beat (LinkedIn’s Companies feature and Facebook pages are good for this); keep up to date with what’s happening on their beat, in the news, and in the world (Twitter’s Lists feature is great for this) and report live from conferences, meetings and other events (Twitter).

9. Mergers, acquisitions, startups and expansions – It was a good year for companies that made it through the recession with enough money to spend on acquisitions, startups or expansions. A little $$$ went a long way and there was no lack of experienced journalists interested in full-time employment. In addition to acquiring Associated Content, in 2010 Yahoo also bought Koprol and Citizen Sports. AOL acquired TechCrunch, and as I mentioned above, IAC-backed The Daily Beast acquired Newsweek. Other companies used their resources to launch startups (remember those), including Entrepreneur (SecondAct.com is one of them), or expand operations, including TBD and Politico. Expect more of the same in 2011.

10. Tech innovators introduce The Daily Me – Talk about niche publishing. Tech innovators introduced apps that readers can use to create personalized “newspapers” based their specific interests or who they follow on Twitter or other social networks – for examples of how this looks read this or this. Some of the most popular: Paper.li, which organizes links shared on Twitter or Facebook into easy-to-read newspaper-style columns; Instapaper, which lets readers bookmark interesting articles or other tidbits they find online to read later on their computer, smartphone, iPad or as print outs; and Flipboard, for the iPad, which organize Google Reader folders, Flickr photo streams, online versions of newspapers and magazines, access social networks.

Did I miss anything? Feel free to add media industry trends you observed during 2010 or  point to other year-end media industry recaps you’ve found by leaving a comment. I’ll share the information in a follow-up post.

One of a new breed of online publishers that some call content aggregators and others content mills, Helium.com has over a short time amassed 150,000 contributors – though according to published reports, only about 10,000 of those are regulars – 1 million articles and $17 million in venture capital funding. The Andover, Massachusetts, company has also signed content sharing deals with three community newspaper chains that pay its writers for original work and reprint rights. But the bulk of Helium writers earn money from click-through advertising according to a computer-based algorithm that takes into account reader interest in the subject matter and how highly articles are rated by other Helium writers, among other things. The company claims its writers had collectively earned more than $1 million by last May.

I recently interviewed Ranalli, Helium’s president and CEO, for a story on content aggregators for an upcoming issue of a national writers’ magazine (I’ll share the link when the story’s out this fall). Here’s what he had to say about the site’s publishing model, how writers make money on it and where he sees the publishing industry headed. I’ve edited our interview for length and clarity.

I call Helium a content aggregator for lack of a better term. What do you call it?
The industry hasn’t accepted a term. We think of Helium as a writing platform. The difference between how we view what we’re doing and how some professional writers view us is a mindset shift. Professional writers are used to looking for work from a publisher then getting paid for their work. We’re allowing the writer to go direct to the consumer. We help them monetize their work and collectively build something of value to all of them.

How does Helium work?
We have two core offerings. One is a publishing platform where anyone can write, improve their skills, build their digital persona and build relationships among other writers. Our members bring the content and operate as the editorial staff. They produce and evaluate the content and the best writers and articles are compensated. It’s a platform more like eBay than it is anything writers have seen before.

And the second way you’re making money?
That’s our marketplace, where the relationship is more like the traditional freelance model. Now that we have this huge writing community, we’ve been approached by thousands of publishers and they ask our writers to produce content for them based on their needs. If one wants a 500-word article on fly fishing destinations in Montana, they give us the specs and we’ve set up a marketplace where our writers can identify what assignments are available, and if they’re selected to do it they’re paid. Some publishers pay $300 an article. Some pay as little as $40 or $50.

Who are your publishing partners – Hearst is one, right?
Hearst uses us a couple ways. Content that exists on Helium.com is also available to our publishers as stock content. Many newspapers have advertorials and sections that don’t require unique, custom-written content. For instance, a local newspaper on Connecticut might be looking for an article on day hikes. We have a gallery of 1 million articles on Helium.com and one of them might be on that topic. Compensation depends. It could be $10 or $15 for one-time use of that article. The writer gets a byline and they retain the copyright so they can resell it again. It’s like a reprint fee. Today we’re working with 6 Hearst newspapers in Connecticut. That’s initially. The expectation is to roll out to other papers.

What types of stories do your publishing partners buy?
We’re not hard news, we’re features. Breaking news journalism, front page stuff is a very different kind of content creation and serves a different model than the travel section. Lead times are different. As a newspaper, you don’t need to have a full time staff writer to write the travel section. We’re not causing this, we’re providing a solution for it.

What other publishers are you working with?
We have a relationship with Community Newspaper Holdings and GateHouse Media. We’re working with some of the world’s largest most respective publishers, but the vast majority of Helium’s partners remain anonymous. If you were a consumer magazine, you wouldn’t necessarily want to signal what’s going to show up in next month’s magazine by (announcing a partnership with Helium). We’re also working with hundreds of long-tail publishers.

What types of people are Helium contributors?
Our members range from professionals in their fields to retirees who spent 35 years in marketing and now write about marketing. They’re J-schools students who are looking to build portfolios. They’re Harvard educated mothers of three. I think of it as a pro-am. It includes some hobbyists but also some professionals. A reason for professionals to write here is we’re a credible brand for allowing writers to build a digital persona. Just because you start a blog doesn’t mean anybody reads it. Helium promotes your content, we help with monetization, we pay you based on the value of that content. It’s a system.

So writing for Helium is an alternative to having a blog?
I liken blogging to screaming in the woods. Sixty-five percent of them are never read. People are out there trying to make it with a blog and not even their mothers are reading their stuff. Blogging is a wonderful concept. It’s indicative of the power of the Internet to go direct to the consumer, share your thoughts and not be forced to go through a filter. But filters are valuable. The editor of the New York Times is a great filter. Helium acts as a filter that allows everyone to participate. The writers become a collective rating system that filters for quality. Publishing a lot of bad content doesn’t do anyone any good. There are other things we do. Being cognizant of SEO, we make sure Helium is linked around the web. And we’re selling ads and generating revenue.

How much do Helium writers make?
In 2007 our top writer made $500 and in 2008 it was $5,000. That’s not pay-the-mortgage money. People aren’t spending 40 hours a week on Helium. But $5,000 is better than a stick in the eye. This year our top writer will be on track for close to $10,000. We have writers on the site who’ve done 25 articles and made hundreds of dollars. I’m sure there are people who’ve written 100 articles made nothing. The devil’s in the details. Anyone who invests their energy in Helium will have a good outcome. I don’t believe you could work 40 hours a week on Helium and replace a full-time salary. But the effort of the community is making Helium a better platform and that’s creating opportunity. This is a rising tide that lifts all boats.

Exactly how do Helium writers get paid?
It’s an algorithm based on a daily calculation of what content has been created and how your content is rated. Well-rated content earns more than poorly-rated content. The second part of the algorithm is the value of your content to advertisers. The third part is general interest in the subject matter. For example, we know personal finance as a section gets a lot of readers. It’s a recession, people want information on how to save money and invest. So we look at, can you monetize the general area of content, do people read it, and are you a good writer. Those factors go into how much you’re earning every day. We’ve been more sophisticated than just who clicked on an ad, which could cause click fraud and introduced other funny dynamics.

What’s your affiliation with the Society of Professional Journalists and National Press Club?
Today not all writing happens through the Washington Post or Time magazine. But these professional organizations didn’t know how to evaluate (unaffiliated) writers. Helium’s system sorts out who the good writers are, and we’d love to have the good ones apply for membership. So if you’re a starred writer on Helium, you can apply to the SPJ. Same with the National Press Club.

Who’s your competition: Associated Content? HubPages?
I view HubPages as more of a micropublisher. They build a system that’s every man for himself. You build your page, create it for SEO and it’s all about click throughs. Squidoo has that same model: lots of people, almost a blog aggregator. I don’t view them as competition. We’re more of a publisher or information resource.

At what stage of their life cycles are content aggregators?
They’re all toddlers. If you think about it, the entire web publishing model is in its infancy. About.com is one of the oldest, they’re 12 years old, now part of the New York Times. These businesses are an opportunity for writers. If you look at the percent of revenue a traditional publisher pays writers it’s typically 5 percent. Helium will be sharing a far greater percentage of revenue generated on the platform. If you believe these businesses will achieve the kind of scale of a professional publisher, the opportunity is there for writers to make a lot of money. But you gotta get here.