But the forums, like coverage of local sports, has helped build readership, newspaper editors have found, and at a time when most American newspapers are struggling with static or declining circulation, that does not bode well for those worried about civility in youth sports.
When he expressed opinions about the position similar to Williams's in 2005, he was assailed as a sellout by an N.A.A.C.P. official in Philadelphia, who also published a black-readership newspaper.
In a memo to his staff -- which was posted Friday on the Poynter Institute's Web site -- Mr. Barrows said the image was "too erotically charged for a general-readership newspaper, especially when combined with display type that read 'Tongues Untied' directly over the mouths of the two people as they leaned so closely together that their foreheads touched".
A few weeks ago, during a conversation with a journalist from a major U.S. newspaper, our discussion steered to the issue of the dwindling readership of newspapers and magazines.
"The only way you can communicate those exaggerations is through expensive electronic media because of declining readership of newspapers.
The massive readership of newspapers such as the News of the World suggests that many of our fellow citizens are untroubled by ethical considerations.
This is not mere technical detail, but part of a wider debate about the differences between print and web editing arising from the revolution in online readership of newspapers.
The hopes of many media executives are pinned on the iPad, and other similar tablet devices promised by PC manufacturers this year, since they offer an opportunity to replace the declining readership of newspapers and magazines with new subscribers to bespoke applications for the devices, opening up a second chance to charge for digital content that is currently given away for free on websites.
Readership of newspapers has continued to decline in the United States as more readers turn to online sources for news, according to the NY Times.
The advertising business was flush, blissfully unburdened by aging readerships, failing newspapers, DVRs or the Internet, and only barely accountable to the federal government or public opinion.
