By the time I arrived at the Interactive Newspaper Conference here in early February, I had been to five industry meetings in less than six weeks. That was, at least, until I heard Robert Cauthorn of the Arizona Daily Star . Though this new media guru's comments on the world of new media were enlightening, what got the little hairs on the back of my neck saluting were his thoughts on the newspaper business.
Newspapers care about our communities.
I don't see any fighting spirit in the business today, and probably the latest earning reports from the publicly traded companies won't help any. We have some extra capital and we have the benefit of a happy Wall Street. We need to invest in transforming our businesses to function profitably in a world where print will mean less and less. We need to figure out how to make money on the Web. We need to regain the trust of our readers and advertisers.