Nine months ago, there were only 154. Outside the United States, at least 337 commercial newspapers are on-line. Add in more than 230 campus newspapers, and the world-wide total for Internet newspapers has reached 1,335. And by the time you read this, even these numbers may be out of date. Upwards of 50 newspapers start publishing on-line each week.
Local advertisers continue to express hesitancy about advertising on-line.
This is regarded by many as grossly insufficient to make a general-interest local publication profitable. It is Cable News Network s on-line site. Such deals are reminiscent of the consignment commercials common during off-peak hours in the immature medium of overnight television and narrowcast cable. And the one organization that could do something to bolster the plight of smaller newspapers, the Newspaper Association of America s New Century Network, seems hopelessly embroiled in attempting to compete with InfiNet as an on-line service provider for publishers. Many others have trimmed staffing by two-thirds or more.