But, the idea of an online chat with your elected official is not one that only works in a tiny media market. For instance, St. Cloud, a regional economic center about 50 miles of north of Hutchinson, boasts a population of about 66,000. St. Cloud's daily newspaper counts one of its local school board members as a registered blogger.

Print won't die
All this focus on the Internet might belie the fact that I still like to get my news the old-fashioned way: from a newspaper. There's something quiet and contemplative about this centuries-old medium, which lacks the blinking distractions of animated ad banners and the tempting tangents of hypertext.

I know I'm not alone in feeling that way, so for the foreseeable future, I think that newsprint is here to stay. I'm also equally convinced that newspapers will have to continually search for new ways to deliver information to their online audiences.

Of course, they must somehow find a way to make a comfortable profit off whatever new models they adopt. Even in the best of economic times, isn't that always the catch?

David Silver lives in California. He can be reached at dws90@yahoo.com.