Newspapering

Today's N.Y. Times includes a series of eight essays on the plight of newspapers. They're written by those in the business and those online, where so many readers now get their news without plunking down .50 or .75 or $1.50* The founding editor of Stateline.org is knee-deep in the disintegrating newspaper business, and he writes: "None of the operations I visited during a recent survey trip is likely to be confused with a newspaper, even a small one. The sites are niche publications, more like the weeklies that every small town once had. " While Edward Fouhy's comment sounds quaint and might make you wonder "what's wrong with that?", when is the last time a small staffed local weekly broke a story about misdeeds in The Pentagon? But maybe what he found is part of the answer. * Hey! Whatever happened to the "cent" sign on keyboards? I know it used to be on typewriters but seems to have vanished (or is it hidden somewhere in a "symbol menu"?)