The Rebuilding Media column on the Corante site examines the plight of the newspaper and concludes the crowded media environment means one thing: "newspapers --- whether print or digital --- are just worth less to advertisers than they were 20 years ago."
The column is long on analysis and a little short on prescription, but it does believe three models are possible in the time ahead:
1. The Detroit Free Press model of fewer delivered print editions.
2. An ad-supported digital model, with the printing plant closed.
3. A voluntary pay model.
Author Ben Compaine believes it isn't feasible to reintroduce the "paywall" model of charging for content --- not when there are so many similar sources free.
