Tyler Cowen points to this essay suggesting that newspapers convert to nonprofit status.

Over three years ago, I wrote

The newspaper business is going to die within the next twenty years. Newspaper publishing will continue, but only as a philanthropic venture.

My guess is that we will see a number of financial models for news and commentary, including some of those listed in Tyler’s blog post. But two trends will drive newspapers toward nonprofit status. One is that as people get wealthier, they will indulge in their desire to become patrons of the media. The other is that the economics of for-profit newspapers will continue to deteriorate, particularly as they have to compete with high-quality donor-subsidized newspapers.