What about online?

A reader points out that news of the Register's big circulation drop (see below) is a bit misleading because there's no mention of the much-increased Web audience. It's a good point - not just at the Register but throughout the online world. But Ken Doctor at Content Bridges notes that with print revenues still driving more than 85 percent of the business, the transition to online is, in a sense, happening too fast.

What today's numbers show is that the movement is accelerating, an acceleration caused both by larger forces (younger readers preferring online, the new green revolution) and by publishers' own cost-cutting. The continuing crunch issue in that: readers online are still worth no more than a dime compared to the dollar in print. So while slashing print costs is a necessity, it is robbing print revenue at the same time. It's an ungainly process, and once started is hard to manage. In fact, it could be like a runaway train, which once dispatched, takes on a velocity of its own.

Doctor notes the latest humiliation: ABC News is cancelling all print subscriptions. Besides saving money, a memo points out that it will help the environment.