From an ink-stained wretch (part I)

This comes from my cousin Elsa, an ol' school newspapernik:

"It's been a hectic few months, but neither Creed nor I have forgotten you. Creed's use of the internet is nil these days, so I'm the delegated responder on the "good ole days of American reporting." I'll start on the subject for a few minutes now and get back to it over the weekend. (Old reporters never die; they just languish in carpool!).

Okay, well, we really are in the digital age now, aren't we? The newspaper industry that I knew--and certainly the one in which Creed spent most of his professional life--would seem to be the last dinosaur in the swamp these days. At one time, it would have been unimaginable to think of a day when Knight-Ridder would no longer exist, the New York Times would be in great financial difficulty and the Times-owned Boston Globe would be teetering on its last legs. Those of us who toiled in the earlier days of the Fourth Estate all seem to be wringing our hands, wondering about alternative ways to deliver the news in meaningful, profitable ways. Is there a real future for journalism as we knew and loved it? That many of us are pondering the situation in blogs rather than in traditional print is ironic at the very least.

Yet I still believe that the dissemination of news to citizens of a city, state, country, region or planet is vitally important to build, nurture and sustain democratic societies. The form it takes is far less important that the fact that it actually takes place.

More on this later. As "they" say, GTG. Note, though, that this email is not actually reporting at all. As with so much of what you read these days, it is just my own observations and opinions--no more, no less. And therein lies a tale--or my thesis, if you will-- about the dangers of this new age. Who and what can you believe today when you read it with a click of a mouse? Can cyberspace be as trustworthy as the old "final edition" newspaper tossed on your doorstep?"

Thanks Elsa, it is lovely to have some proper perspective.