What if newspapers were invented after the Internet?

Thursday morning, the big wigs who own the newspaper I write stories for announced there would be even more layoffs in the coming weeks. With this economy, no one is really surprised. Think about it: When businesses close, that means fewer jobs, which means fewer advertisements of all kinds: classified, retail, shopper inserts.

Anyway, Ken Paulson, former editor of the USA Today, had a clever take on how newspapers could survive and you have to go back to the future to get what he is talking about. He spoke recently at a National Press Club function and I've lifted his best quotes from a media watch column run by the Poynter Institute.

Enjoy....

"We're pleased to announce a new product that will revolutionize the way you access information. It will save you time and money and keep you better informed than ever before.

Just consider the hours you've spent on the Internet looking for information of interest to you. We've hired specialists who live and work in your hometown to cull information sources and provide a daily report tailored to your community, your friends and your neighbors.

We also know that you sometimes wonder whether you can trust the information you see online. We plan to introduce a painstaking new process called "fact-checking" in which we actually verify the information before we pass it along to you.

In addition to saving time online, you'll also save money. You won't need those expensive color ink cartridges or reams of paper because information will be printed out for you in full color every day.

You'll also save money on access charges and those unpleasant fights over who gets time on the computer because this product will be physically delivered to your home at the same time each day, for less than what you would tip the guy from Pizza Hut.

You can read the rest of the post here: (Imagine, newspapers being invented after the modem)