A future for newspapers? or Deathwatch?

Well, if you believe Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, newspapers will do just fine. In an interview this week, Flynt claimed that newsprint isn't obsolete and won't be obliterated by the great dinosaur-killer that crashed to Earth, the Internet. Instead, Flynt suggested that newspapers need to learn how to just get along with their newer media neighbors.

On the other hand, there's a blog on mediabistro.com with an open-minded heading: "Newspaper Deathwatch." In today's entry, mediabistro bemoans the possibility that newspapers will go the way of Public Radio or Public Television, that is, listener/viewer- and now reader-supported media. Here's a bit of the idea that mediabistro downloaded from the online source, Spot.Us:

Spot.Us is a nonprofit project to pioneer "community funded reporting." Through Spot.Us the public can commission investigations with tax deductible donations for important and perhaps overlooked stories.

OMG!