I think newspapers are finally becoming completely obsolete, and I will miss them when they are gone. I am not sure if it is the fault of anyone at the O for these new cutbacks here, or just a sign of modern times. I see from the blogged responses that liberals and conservatives blame the O's slow demise for having sided with the opposition.

If newspapers were a brand new invention today they might be considered a great alternative to having to carry around a laptop. Imagine, they could have been the newest fad. I am going to be sad the first time that I have to swat a fly with my HP, but unfortunately news the following day....... is no longer news.

And twice-a-week pundits and moderated letters to the editor are nothing compared to blogs. Throw in Craigslist to kill off the classified ads that pay for it all, and the operation is toast.

When the dailies are history, it's not the opinion pages and the classifieds that will be missed.

What concerns me is the funding for investigative journalism. Blogging is cool, but how often do bloggers spend six months raking muck, and then go to press with several thousand words that expose, educate and elucidate?

Not that the O does much worthwhile in this regard, but look at the carnage at the LA Times. They used to actually do some excellent investigative reporting there, but I sincerely doubt that's going to happen much now.

The demise of print newspapers is sad. I read the O daily. It's just he fastest source for local news. The local TV news is beneath comment in my opinion.

Blogs and the alt weeklies and the Tribune and such have their place, but they can't replace a real daily newspaper.

Believe me for a mid-size market, we're lucky to have a paper of the quality of the O. Go to other cities the size of Portland and check out their local paper. Heck ithe O is better than either Seattle paper.