…the media industry is, or perhaps ought to be, “laying the newspaper gently down to die.”

Rosen cites long-term circulation declines (especially among the younger demographic slices) and conglomerates beholden to The Almighty Stock Price at the expense of all other principles of careful management. He sees an industry heading steadily into a “death spiral” of cost-cutting and shrinkage, an industry still able but not yet willing to fully invest in transitioning itself to the Internet age.

So why am I still trying to make a go of the newsprint racket?

Perhaps because I believe there’s still value in the ol’ beast. It’s a tactile experience, a verbal/visual showbiz of information and juxtaposition. Sure, the old monopoly-daily business model, in which every household every morning gets a big package of supermarket and department-store ads interspersed with moderate-conservative editorials and celebrity gossip items, is an antiquated relic. But the newspaper itself isn’t just a business, and it isn’t just a news medium either. It’s an art form. A form capable of endless variation and renewal.

My particular current newsprint product, the Belltown Messenger, isn’t yet my ideal expression of this art form. But I hope to get closer to that with every issue.