As an undergraduate student, majoring in mass communications, I totally agree with both journalists. I believe that the newspaper is the main source of all news related information, and should not come to an end. From my own personal experience, I grew up reading the daily newspaper with my grandmother, and from that, I have learned that newspapers are very important in our society. Although there are many other news sources such as radio, television, and internet, the newspaper was the first mainstream outlet of information, and should not be diminished.

The one big thing this segment missed is that without newspapers, most original reporting goes away. News begins with newspapers, which is then picked up by TV and radio stations. Even the great NPR often picks things up from the major U.S. newspapers (those that are left, anyway). In other words, if newspapers go away, so does journalism.

I enjoyed this style of interview -- i.e., having two guests with somewhat different viewpoints. OTMs typical approach of having Brook or Bob play the devils advocate every time gets old after a while.

I think academia will be the venue from which a growing portion of in-depth reporting will be based. As full-time employment opportunities for journalists diminish with the death of newspapers, more and more journalists will find-- as so many artists and poets already do-- that their best bet is to do their work and to teach at the same time. This migration might reduce the volume of work produced per person, but would also put more of our best minds into the classroom, where they should be.