Steve Harrelson jumps into a conversation that I’ve been having here on the Think Tank and on Lance Turner’s blog .  He writes in response to an op-ed written by Northwest Arkansas Times executive editor Greg Harton regarding newspapers, bloggers and online content.

Harton writes,

“The trick for newspapers everywhere has been finding a business model that helps pay the freight for those newsgathering operations. If local newspapers had to support their newsrooms only on the revenue from online sources, newsrooms would shrink dramatically. Print still pays the bills.

“As time marches on, newspaper companies will continue to focus on what they’ve done well for years and years: Seek to be credible, trustworthy sources of information that people need to live and work in their communities and to govern themselves. To whatever extent they can translate that to new methods of delivery, they’ll have much to offer for readers.”

He’s certainly right about that.

He’s also correct when he opines, “newspapers are good for the American people. Newsgathering fulfills a critical role in this republic by delivering information citizens need to be active parts of their community, state, nation and world.”

But we have to remain mindful that so many people, especially people under 30, are getting all of their information online.  I recognize that certain entities - like the Arkansas Democrat Gazette - are trying to protect their online content (although not in Northwest Arkansas) by allowing only subscribers to access it.

That model hasn’t worked (see the New York Times failed attempt to get people to pay for Opinion content), and according to Rupert Murdoch , the Wall Street Journal’s online content will soon be free to everyone.  That said, Dem-Gaz publisher Walter Hussman says the paper is making money.  He earned publisher of the year awards from Editor & Publisher , so something is working.

But will it last?  I doubt it, especially if a competitor steps into the online space and meets the need of the online news consumer.

Also, traditional (and often money-losing) publications like The New Yorker now host a slew of blogs each of which is quite interesting and gives readers like me a reason to connect to the magazine’s website on a daily basis.

Here are some thoughts from a speech by Kevin Sack of the New York Times at the Clinton School of Public Service on this very topic.