I think there may be one other reason for the program’s discontinuation to add to your list: the expansion of publishing programs at Columbia and George Washington University (as well as University College of London). Both universities now offer a wide number of courses through the year. Both the Columbia and GW programs also allow students to earn credit towards a degree—something that was not offered at Stanford.

I still think there was a place for Stanford’s course, though only if they reoriented it towards new media. The Publishing on the Web course that you mention might have become the centerpiece of a new program focused on the very disruptions that resulted in the demise of the original program.