The only reason my wife and I subscribe to the Grand Rapids Press is for the Sunday grocery ads. And the only reason that we get the Press during the week is because the practically pay us to take it. I have no idea how they're making money, and I highly doubt their claims about increasing circulation. (If the claims are true, my guess is that they're true because they, well, give the paper away.) These thoughts pop to mind as I read this stinging editorial on the gradual demise of another hometown paper, the Kansas City Star:

The Project for Excellence in Journalism began its 2006 annual report by asking, "Will we recall this as the year when journalism in print began to die?" The answer preceded the question. A business that exists solely to give credibility to a minority point of view just isn’t a smart proposition. The Pitch, KC's left-wing tabloid, already does a better job reaching the Star’s market than the Star does, and they do it for a lot less money. Meanwhile, newsroom Darwinists can look past the Pitch to craigslist.com and see the local paper of the future.

So conservatives worked up over the Star’s coverage or its editorials or its story selection or its letters column should just take a shower, pop a soda and relax. A friend of mine, the late George Leinwall, a Joycean scholar and a bibliophile, once advised me against wasting energy on getting angry at a guy who had done me wrong. “His punishment,” Leinwall said, “is his life.” Same with the Star, except for the "life" part.