Local newspapers seem to be doing the best in the world of print media, compared to America's daily newspapers.

- New Orleans becomes the largest American city to be without a printed daily newspaper in October
when the Times-Picayune will reduce their printed edition to three days a week and shift to online coverage. The New York Times reports a "similar initiative at three Newhouse papers in Alabama — The Birmingham News, The Press-Register of Mobile and The Huntsville Times. They, too, will print only three days a week and undergo staff cuts."

- From Jonathan Wynne-Jones in UK's Guardian:
"In a memo to staff last month, he [Jim Kirk, the new editor-in-chief of the Chicago Sun-Times] wrote: 'We are no longer a newspaper company. We are a technology company that happens to publish a newspaper.'"

- "Products that Gen Y just will not buy"
"While readership rates for print newspapers are falling across the board, the country’s younger generation has abandoned the medium the most. As of 2010, only 7 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds reported having read a print newspaper the day before, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. This is the first time that figure has reached single digits. This age group also has among the highest rates of people reportedly receiving news through social networking sites or Twitter," quoting Charles B. Stockdale and Michael B. Sauter, 24/7 Wall St.

- Nisqually Valley News Editor/Publisher Keven Graves wrote last May:
"The Nisqually Valley News is celebrating its 90th birthday this year, a significant milestone by any stretch of the imagination."

"Arguably, the NVN is the oldest continuously-operated business in Yelm.

Think about that. How many businesses in Yelm are fast-approaching its centennial?

The first Nisqually Valley News rolled off the press in February 1922," quoting his Op-Ed.

BOTTOM LINE:
At this year's White House Correspondents Dinner, President Obama acknowledged the role of the free press and bloggers saying:
"And one of those traditions is represented here tonight: a free press that isn't afraid to ask questions, to examine and to criticize."

"So whether you are a blogger or a broadcaster, whether you take on powerful interests here at home or put yourself in harm's way overseas, I have the greatest respect and admiration for what you do."

REGARDLESS OF THE MOVE AWAY FROM A PRINTED DAILY IN MAJOR CITIES, THE LOCAL NEWSPAPERS & BLOGGERS WILL BECOME EVER-MORE-IMPORTANT VEHICLES FOR THE DELIVERY OF NEWS & INFORMATION.
HOPEFULLY, OUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER WILL BUILD ON THE FIRST 90 YEARS AND LAST ANOTHER 90 YEARS!