Reader’s digest was a powerhouse of its time. It brought together the best of a certain type of published material, so that people could sample a world of articles (often in condensed form, one of the reasons the magazine was derided in certain circles). It was really a blog before blogs, with actual articles instead of links.
Now we have people stepping in to bring that back. In a sense orgs like the Atavist are scouring the published world and offering some fine work for a low price. Here is a columnist who sings the praises of Atavist and another site called Longreads.
Of course these forms of publishing change the economics for writers. It may or may not make sense to write just for Longreads, but if you are writing for someone else you may earn some extra money if you have an agreement to share the proceeds.
Just as readers digest did, the web will probably lead to people reading more. As I have long believed, the web and epublishing will destroy writing in order to save it.