Newspaper Journalism's Yalta Conference

According to the fantastic James Warren, top executives from some 25 newspaper companies have gathered outside Chicago to discuss the future of newspapers. Specifically, Jim says the secretive confab is all about "Models to Monetize Content." That, of course, has led some to theorize that the execs may be hashing out plans to erect industry-wide paywalls.

Anti-trust liability? Maybe. But as I've said before, charging for access to online content may be the only way newspapers can stop the print circulation bleed, and thus achieve some degree of stability with their main source of revenue. It would be refreshing to see a bunch of newspaper honchos get together and find the cojones to actually take some meaningful, bold actions.