The economic realities of the publishing industry are forcing American newspapers to close down foreign bureaus, but at least one man is willing to bet on the viability of international media coverage targeted to US audiences.

It has been some time now since we first caught wind of "citizen journalism," a trend that seems to be forever threatening to explode, without yet causing too much panic within the media landscape.

There were two elements of last Sunday's Super Bowl that seemed to defy logic.

The media has recently grappled with the unprecedented task of covering an election that, for the first time in US history, presents both a woman - Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) - and a black man - Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) - as viable candidates for the Presidency.

In December 2007, The Wall Street Journal fell from fourth place to fifth place in Nielsen Online's figures for newspaper Web site traffic. The replacement was an unlikely foe: Newsday.com, which has recently become a fixture at the top of the list.

Though sad for fans of Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Duncan Hunter, and other no-hopers in the race, the winnowing down of presidential candidates as the primary season progresses is probably good news for fans of TV debates.

The HBO drama series The Wire is best known for its unflinching portrayal of murderous drug dealers, boozing cops, and crooked politicians that infest the urban pathways of Baltimore. This season, (the show's last), much of the action will also center on "The Baltimore Sun," a fictionalized version of the city's real-life publication.

The day may come when the "news" is an all-out battle of competing political factions, each trying to insinuate its position into the mind of the populace by using the media as a giant host, just as viruses use the human body.

The week after Thanksgiving, newspapers across the country made space to call out the disappearance - now murder - of Emily Sander, an outgoing, well-liked, and ambitious freshman at Butler Community College in El Dorado, KS.

The week after Thanksgiving, newspapers across the country made space to call out the disappearance - now murder - of Emily Sander, an outgoing, well-liked, and ambitious freshman at Butler Community College in El Dorado, KS.