Decline does not equate to imminent death

It is widely reported that newspapers are in decline. Readerships are down and revenues from advertising declining. Bottom line newspapers - that is those for sale - are facing stiff competition from "free" dailies and the internet. Now ipods and itouch appliances add another dimension for obtaining news.

For all of that there seems to still be some optimism abroad by newspaper publishers, as the LA Times reports in "U.S. newspaper editors still optimistic, survey says":

Despite declines in revenue and repeated staff reductions, most American newspaper editors remain optimistic that their publications will regain their footing by shifting news to online editions and by employing innovations like video and computer-assisted reporting, a study has found.

More than half of the 259 editors surveyed rated the overall quality of their papers as better now compared with three years ago, with a majority saying the quality of writing and the depth of reporting had improved, according to "The Changing Newsroom."

But the survey by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism -- believed to be the most comprehensive of an embattled industry -- also found that "more is disappearing than is being added" in American newspapers. Foreign and national news coverage, in particular, have suffered.

Newspapers have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years as readers and advertisers shift to other outlets, mostly on the Internet. Many newspapers have more readers today than ever as Web readership soars, but online ads bring in only a fraction of the revenue that print ads -- which are on the decline -- generate.

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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