[Freedom is eternally right]

It is my contention that ALL papers can only survive if they go to the covering the stuff that isn't usually on the internet...and that is LOCAL stuff. And coupons.

That may be true for larger papers, such as the ones that have targeted newspapers for suburbs but it isn't necessarily true for small town newspapers. Our local paper ran a subscription special, 6 months for $10. There is no way they can be making money. If every family in the three surround towns subscribed at the rate they offered, they would still operate at a loss. They did close their offices for a short period of time, and have recently started publishing again. As much as I dislike the NY Times, I would hate to see the loss of our local paper.

[Miss Marple]

They are trying for subscribers in order to get the ad revenue. Papers and magazines get the bulk of their income from advertising revenue, and they can get higher dollars if they have more readers.

That's why it is a scandal when it is discovered that papers are inflating their subscrition base. It means that they were defrauding the advertisers.