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The title of Frank Rich’s op-ed column in this weekend’s New York Times, “The American Press on Suicide Watch,” seems like it says it all; but does it?  While acknowledging the current state of the industry, Rich doesn’t consider it a goner. Instead of completely reiterating the causes of the downfall, Rich steps back even further throughout history in order to make a case for the future.

Emerging technologies have always challenged the “purity” of existing forums. For example, Rich points out that the emergence of television in the late 1940’s was regarded as “a monster” capable of destroying the radio and entertainment industries. Furthermore, when the idea emerged some decades later that consumers should pay for television, free T.V. was considered an “inalienable American right”. Today it’s safe to say that nearly every American home has at least one television, and the majority of T.V. owners choose to pay for either cable or satellite T.V.

We have seen the government aid given to financial institutions come with a lot of excess baggage and political influence (recall Citi’s controversial change of heart regarding their support of mortgage cramdowns). Government interaction in the marketplace has already begun to alter the natural flow and structure of things. But the latest bailout idea may be the most dangerous of all.

A idea being floated in Pennsylvania is to use state funding to prop up two failing newspapers. Philadelphia Media Holdings — the company which owns the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News — is in default on its loans. Reports say their owner went “hat in hand” to PA Governor Ed Rendell looking for help:

Today’s high-tech world has shifted the way people search for services. Today’s harsh economic conditions have limited the advertising funds business owners can afford to spend. The result: the likely extinction of the once golden, or should I say yellow, ticket to more business, the Yellow Pages. Once upon a time the Yellow Pages were all consumers had to find a landscaper, a new pizza place, or the number to the local hairdresser. Today there’s the internet. Yet, even online Yellow Pages are seeing their traffic diminish:

Print and online ad spending on yellow pages will plummet 6.3% next year, more than double the rate of decline expected for broadcast TV, according to forecasts by Wachovia analyst John Janedis. Within the next four years, ad spending will fall 39% in print directories alone — the steepest projected decline across all local-media categories, according to media-research firm Borrell Associates.

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