Romenesko

Slate
Steven Rattner's WSJ op-ed on newspaper publishers' woes "is embarrassingly short on business specifics," says Jack Shafer. "He essentially believes that the newspaper industry, which sits atop a $45 billion ad market, should be treated like the ballet or other charitable causes." What Rattner fails to mention, says Shafer, is that newspapers have socked it to advertisers for decades. "Now that the Web is underselling them on the ad front and other media are stealing eyeballs, should we weep for them? Or should they stop the blubbering, quit wishing for the return of 1975, and start competing? I obviously think so."