Philip Meyer, one of the dean's of scholarly approaches in print media, contributes a sound piece in the latest American Journalism Review that suggests the newspaper of the future needs to be smaller, more investigative and more analytical.
The declining paper has a lot to do with the buffet style of the offering, he notes, when in fact there are more tailored ways to find an audience to sustain the paper. The sense of community influence needs to be there. The sense of context is vital. And the requirement of evidence-based journalism --- not blathering unsubstantiated conjecture --- is critical to the survival.
If nothing else, Meyer says we should be prepared for another Craigslist surprise. The ground will shift and shift.