On the American newspaper front

For those followers of the American printed word,a couple of good pieces over the last couple of days( Hat Tip Adrian Monck)

How long can The New York Times continue to exist as an ink-and-paper entity? writes Jeff Bercovici at New Media.

Commenting on Vivian Schiller's musings on the paper that

"First, newspapers are not going anywhere," Advertising revenue may be in decline, but publishing newspapers is still a very profitable business and we intend to keep our presses running for a long time to come.
"Second, online advertising revenue is increasing at a double-digit clip, and with our brand and audience we're well positioned to capture our fair share."

Bercovici points out that he was

only half-right on both counts. Publishing newspapers is still a very profitable business -- but not for the Times, which has to borrow money to pay its crippling dividend. And online ad revenue is increasing at a double-digit clip -- but not at the Times, where they were up only 5.5 percent in July.

Meanwhile the debate about the Wall Street Journal continues at the New York Times.During its acquisition by Rupert Murdoch there was a great amount of debate over whether it would go downmarket.

What strikes Joe Nocera at the New York Times was that

how little business news the first section of the paper contained.and he claims that Murdoch

believes that the country is yearning for a national conservative daily, so that is where he is taking The Wall Street Journal. He is also an old-fashioned news hound, so he’s pushing for straighter, snappier, less analytical stories.