Good News, Bad News

Sometimes it seems that you can't get some good news without getting some bad news to balance it out.

Today is a case in point.

Thanks — apparently — to the Obama administration's plan to buy nearly $1 trillion in bad bank assets, the stock market posted its biggest one-day point gain since Nov. 21, which was four months ago — 497 points.

And, because the losses of the last four months have been so staggering, the single-day percentage gain — 6.8% — is the highest since Oct. 28, which was nearly five months ago.

And the S&P did better than the Dow Jones today. It had its biggest one-day gain since Nov. 13. Its percentage gain was also its largest since Oct. 28, but S&P's percentage gain of 7.1% exceeded the Dow's.

But there was plenty of bad news in the newspaper business today:

• The Ann Arbor News announced that its last edition will be published in July. It will be replaced by a Web site called AnnArbor.com.


• Three other Michigan newspapers — the Flint Journal, the Saginaw News and the Bay City Times — are going to cut back to three publication days per week.


• The Charlotte Observer plans to cut its staff by 14.6% and reduce the pay of most of the employees it retains.


• The Tucson Citizen appears likely to fold if the Gannett Co. cannot find a buyer.

As CNN's Stephanie Chen observes, "Amid the decline comes concern over who, if anyone, can assume newspapers' traditional role as a watchdog. For more than 200 years, that role has been an integral part of American democracy."

Who will assume that role now? The internet?

Well, that seems to be the direction we're headed, but I have my doubts.