New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is also the founder and an owner of the Bloomberg financial news service, made a surprise appearance at the conference, in part to pitch New York City as a place to start a business. But he also talked a bit about the media's current financial problems, and warned against the idea that new devices like the iPad alone will save media companies.

"I'd argue a lot of media has gone a long way from what the public wants to receive," he said. As an example of a publication that has kept in touch with its readership and thrived, he pointed to the continued success of The Economist. "The magazines that are in trouble are in trouble because they are writing the same stuff that everybody else is," he said.