The current lull began long before any of the current scandals, so I would hesitate to assign any blame to that. Also, many of our members live in countries that don't really have any scandals going on at the moment.

It's not necessary to see a lull in activity on our forums as a bad thing. It could also be an indication that a lot of the people who once relied on these forums for emotional support during a difficult period of their lives have moved on and are now doing better and finding the forums unnecessary. Others might not visit much anymore because they have so many good things going on in their life that they just don't have time for it anymore.