So newspapers (even aside from the Reader) are not doing so great lately. The Chicago Tribune went bankrupt in December. Closer to home, both of Detroit's newspapers are now only doing delivery Thursdays and Fridays, and on other days are selling a much smaller version only at newsstands. The New York Times has been hurting pretty badly as well. And my own local newspaper seems to be getting smaller by the month.
The economic climate seems to have dealt a pretty stunning blow to the newspaper industry, in other words. So what are the effects of this going to be? Throughout most of this country's history, newspapers have been the most important newsmedia in terms of real investigative reporting. Is that all in the past? Are newspapers going to be a minor part of our media landscape in the future? Has the internet made physical newspapers obsolete (and are we going to see online media empires to rival the New York Times in the coming years?) Will there be less real investigative reporting in the future? If so, what effects will that have?