Seriously, if this idea were being proposed by anyone who didn't make 'The Wire,' I find it hard to imagine that Hacker News would find it worth our attention.
Yeah, but it was proposed by the creator of "The Wire," so here we are. :)
David Simon was waaaaay out in front of this issue. Way back in 2006 he chose the demise of the newspaper industry as the theme of the final season of The Wire and covered it critically before the whole "Newspapers Are About to Die" meme was getting any traction outside journalism trade circles.
That's not to say he's got all the answers, but the guy's certainly been thinking about the problem for quite some time and it's interesting to hear his perspective.
Similar to Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid and global warming, these are train-wrecks that can be seen miles and miles way. Unfortunately for newspapers, it seems they are in the middle of one.