I just noticed this article from Reuters with a quote from Ned Scott
"There were many, many people looking at this project, several hundreds of users per day," said Scott. "And when they experienced that first payout on July 4, they bought something for their mother, they paid debt. And it suddenly felt real to everyone."
Source
The entire article seems to be rather factual, very little spin, and no attempts to portray Steemit as some kind of media bogeyman.
This is very interesting - positive media attention from a major news service, in stark contrast to how mass media normally treats Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Here's one classic example - one of many:
It looks like the tide is finally turning for crypto, or perhaps it's just that they haven't been able to find an angle to use to trivialise the value of Steemit/Steem as yet. The "den of paedophiles and pornographers" line that they used to talk about the Internet probably won't work here, nor will the "It's just for drugs" line that they used for Bitcoin (at least not yet). Nevertheless, I'm sure we'll see some thinly-veiled attempt from the media to protect the status quo.
What hollow lines could they possibly bleat out though?
- An appeal to tradition like "I prefer my old-fashioned Facebook!"
- Or "In my day, people weren't paid to pass notes on the Internet or anywhere else!"
- Or the old favourite "A Ponzi scheme which will eventually collapse in rubble and tears!"
I had a hunt around for other coverage and found this:
There had been smaller spikes, but this was the first time steem passed the DAO, the blockchain-based fund built around the digital currency Ethereum, according to Steemit CEO Ned Scott. It is now the world’s fifth most valuable cryptocurrency.
Source
Not exactly mainstream media, and there's a typo in the headline which doesn't do much for its credibility, but nevertheless, it's media from outside the crypto world, and sounds very bullish.
And an extract of the Reuters article, translated to Brazilian Portuguese.
The Reuters article was also republished in the major Australian newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald.
The point is, it seems as if mainstream media is taking a tiny bit of notice of Steem and Steemit, and they're not saying anything bad. Of course, they haven't yet had the opportunity to say much, demonstrated by the bare handful of articles I found.
Could the prophecies be true? Is Steemit the Messiah which will cast out the godless from fiat currency, and guide us to the holy land of crypto? Time will tell.