Why We Should Let Newspapers Die

Michael Kinsley in the Washington Post today opposes the idea of a newspaper bailout, as advocated by Senator Ben Cardin, as well as several journalists in The Nation:

You may love the morning ritual of the paper and coffee, as I do, but do you seriously think that this deserves a subsidy? Sorry, but people who have grown up around computers find reading the news on paper just as annoying as you find reading it on a screen. (All that ink on your hands and clothes.) If your concern is grander -- that if we don't save traditional newspapers we will lose information vital to democracy -- you are saying that people should get this information whether or not they want it. That's an unattractive argument: shoving information down people's throats in the name of democracy.

Also, see my previous post on this subject.