“Failure to build community is one of the many reasons so many newspapers are in so much trouble right now. Yeah, the Internet this and the economy that and television blah blah blah, but don’t overlook “failure to lead.” Far too many newspapers have either intentionally abandoned or simply lost interest and wandered away from the mission. If you actually do research — something that is depressingly rare in the world of Internet punditry — you’ll discover that in pretty much every American city there’s a deep need for social connections that isn’t being met for a lot of folks.”
