i was never enamored with denton's editorial tenure at valleywag (he seemed capricious and arbitrary about what you could shit-kick and what was a sacred cow)...but as a business owner he is spot-on. he isn't waiting for the recession to force him into consolidation, he's doing it proactively, on his time. the newspapers could be doing this, but instead are going to wait for the markets to back them into a corner.
in any case the bell was tolling for valleywag...there just isn't that much dirt in the bay area to dish on...i never knew how people managed even the contrived level of interest that valleywag generated