If the University of Southern California Annenberg School’s Center for the Digital Future is correct, Denver likely will not have a major daily newspaper in 2017. Instead, The Denver Post will be an online property with print editions only once or twice a week.

“…Sales figures do not lie; circulation of print newspapers continues to plummet, and the current generation of print newspaper readers is not being replaced. We believe that most major U.S. daily newspapers as we know them today as print editions will be gone in about five years; eventually the only print newspapers that will survive will be at the extremes of the medium – the largest and the smallest. We expect at least four major newspapers with global reach to continue to publish daily print editions: The New York Times, USA Today, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. At the other extreme, local weekly and twice-weekly newspapers may continue in print form, as well as the Sunday print editions of metropolitan newspapers that otherwise may exist only in online editions.”

A former reporter from Philadelphia chronicles for the New York Times a return home to the place that could be the first without a daily newspaper.

If you are one of those chumps who spends more than 10 minutes reading a newspaper, help is on the way.

Washington Post columnist Michael Kinsley lays out his vision.

The University of Colorado–Denver student newspaper’s choice for the cover of its annual “sex issue” has the university’s student body president demanding an apology. Fox (of course) has the details.

Where to begin?

• The venerable Christian Science Monitor is moving nearly all of its news operation online to save money.
• A coalition of Northeast newspapers and CNN are fighting to offer wire stories to papers that are unhappy with the Associated Press’ high price tag.
• Gannett’s newspaper division will cut another 10 percent of its staff in a next round of layoffs.
• Moody’s Investors Service may downgrade its stellar rating of the Post Co. 

…the Denver Independent launches next week.

From PRNewser:

“Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin could buy every newspaper in America and still have $12 billion left over. The entire U.S. newspaper business is valued at $20 billion. Brin and Page are worth about $16 billion each.”

From the Associated Press:

“(U.S. Sen. John McCain’s) top (vice presidential) contenders are said to include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Less traditional choices mentioned include former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, an abortion-rights supporter, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential prick in 2000 who now is an independent.”

Time to check under the couch cushions for any spare change –- the Grand Junction Sentinel is for sale.

This handy-yet-simple test will let you find out.

The Pew Research Center issued its report, “The Changing Newsroom: Gains and Losses in Today’s Papers,” on Monday, and it has taken us a few days to get to it. The report offers a number of interesting analyses of the often contradictory newspaper industry, including:

Despite an image of decline, more people today in more places read the content produced in the newsrooms of American daily newspapers than at any time in years. But revenues are tumbling. The editors expect the financial picture only to worsen, and they have little confidence that they know what their papers will look like in five years.

Newspapers are still drawing plenty of readers (in part by shifting their focus to local news that readers can’t get from national publications/Web sites), but until they devise a method to monetize their Web traffic, expect the consolidation and layoffs to continue.

A Vermont/New Hampshire newspaper misspelled its own name on its flag.

The Denver Catholic Register announced it will reduce its annual number of issues from 50 to 44.

It’s time again to buy your favorite reporter a drink. As bad as the news has been for the newspaper industry the last two years, analysts predict it will be even worse for the next three to four years before it hits rock bottom and things start to stabilize. 

McClatchy, publisher of 28 daily newspapers across the country including the Miami Herald and Sacramento Bee, announced that it will lay off 1,400 employees, or about 10 percent of its workforce. The cuts aren’t uniform across its property, however, and it is estimated the Miami Herald will see cuts as deep as 17 percent of employees.

Continued bad news for the newspaper industry – Gannett Co., publisher of USA Today and 80 other daily newspapers, will write down the value of its assets by $2.5 billion to $3 billion, an indication that the company doesn’t expect to recover fully from a steep decline in the value of its business.

The best news the newspaper industry has had in a while: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer thinks the print industry will be dead in 10 years. Ballmer hasn’t been right about anything since Vista Zune MSN WebTV WGA Xbox.

A new Goldman Sachs report predicts newspaper advertising revenue will remain “anemic” though 2008.