That panel contained a newspaper editor who, as lawyers like to say, "vigorously" defended his position that newspapers are alive and well, reaching Generation Y and are here to stay. The other seminar had a newspaper executive from Dean Singleton's MediaNews Group telling the audience his papers are doing so well that they are launching Spanish versions.
But in addition to newspapers being edged out by online publications and blogging, the situation in the San Francisco Bay Area is not good. We have essentially only two voices: Hearst Co.'s San Francisco Chronicle, and Media News' 13-plus daily papers from the San Jose Mercury News to the Oakland Tribune. If competition produces the best reporting, the Bay Area won't be getting much of that.
