Mary Nesbitt's posting on the Readership Institute site points to its latest wave of newspaper tracking research. The every-other-year survey examined 100 communities and their local newspaper and online sites.
What it makes clear is that readers aren't fleeing at the same rate --- not nearly --- as are advertisers in the U.S.
The local paper's reach is still there, a large part of the paper is being consumed and at some length, and while there are not good signs that young people are acquiring the newspaper habit, the data involving those aged 45 and older indicate a stability in the audience.
Interestingly, a large number of those surveyed had not gone to their newspaper's Web site. The penetration rate in the market of those sites remains very low, which doesn't mirror developments north of the border, where newspaper Web sites are actually faring better in terms of traffic and reach.

The explosion of GPS, geo-tagged content, and geo-locating cellular phones has opened opportunities for journalism, advertising and marketing. Location-based technologies give rise to Locative Journalism, or LoJo, which provide a more substantially relevant relationship between where you are and what information you consume. This rich relationship is part of our future.
The Readership Institute has published a smart primer from Medill School of Journalism professor Rich Gordon on the qualities of LoJo. It makes a good argument for geo-tagging stories, but it also includes a very good plea for strengthening audio --- the lost art in digital journalism.
As newsrooms transform, it will be necessary to adopt the qualities of this emerging technology. It will impossible to miss the impact of geo-locative advertising and marketing, so journalism clearly has to play along.

The Readership Institute at Northwestern University has a look at two U.S. newspapers walking the talk on local content.
The Bakersfield Californian has been at it for a long time now, and in visiting it last year, it was evident that the culture had long since shifted. No persuasion needed any longer. The newsroom and the newspaper were now news providers and community enablers. Witness the local blogroll and how the outlet is the conduit for new communities of interest. And witness the extent of new applications digitally that serve the knowledge needs of the market.
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times is also at it vigorously, and its power appears to be in the engagement of the audience in comment about content. It's as if its site is one large --- and largely informed --- open-line show. Highly impressive. Nice it could fetch a great URL, too (caller.com)