Publishers, despite the hardbitten skepticism of their journalist underlings, vie with the denizens of Silicon Valley for the crown of gullible neophilia. So they ignore reports of Second Life's impending demise, and instead fix their eyes on the virtual world's elusive 8.7 million registered users. Virtual World Productions has decided to stake a claim in virtual journalism. Its goal is to grow into the News Corp. of virtual worlds — never mind that Reuters and CNET beat it to the punch in establishing Second Life bureaus.