Prompted by the troubled U.S. economy, Greater Cincinnati's only remaining daily newspaper laid off several employees Dec. 2 and 3 under strict orders from its owner, Gannett Co. Although the number of layoffs wasn't disclosed, at least 30 people (including 13 in the newsroom) were let go, sources say. Further, The Enquirer's 'newshole' will be reduced by six pages on Sundays and a total of 30 pages across the other weekdays beginning the week of Dec. 28, says Editor Tom Callinan.   

Enquirer Editor Tom Callinan is a veteran print journalist trying to reconfigure his 'paper' and staff under awful conditions in the Internet Age. Success will include keeping older, affluent readers and attracting younger, increasingly affluent readers. He doesn't need my advice, and I'm glad I'm not in his position.  

As the financial world churns and tosses, you might hear someone offer a warning against businesses becoming too complacent. "What the railroads failed to understand," this person will say, "is that they weren't in the railroad business." The moral: The railroad companies mistook their medium (trains) for their core product (transportation). The newspaper business is now being put through the railroad analogy grinder, and the comparisons are apt.   

A New Jersey appellate court decision allowed a libel suit against The Bergen Record to go ahead even though the defamatory statements were accurately and fairly taken from a bankruptcy court complaint. The ruling contradicts the long-standing protection courts have given to information taken from documents filed with a court.  

America has spoken. Our next president is Barack Obama, and although I didn't vote for him I accept him as my president and hope for success unprecedented in the history of the United States. God knows we need success right now. I hope he's up to the task and leads all Americans to a renewed prosperity and continued safety.   

Spreading cancellations of Associated Press memberships could leave our premier international news service unable to maintain its breadth and quality. AP is the major source of international news in our daily papers and any diminution will degrade our already dismal understanding of events beyond our borders. About 100 papers gave two-year cancellation notices to the AP in recent weeks; whether they're negotiating ploys in a fee dispute or rethinking of news priorities is unclear.  

The daily dispatches and nightly newscasts of the mainstream media regularly cover terrorism but rarely discuss how the fear of attacks is used to manipulate the public and set policy. That's the common thread of many unreported stories last year, according to an analysis by Project Censored.  

Enquirer nuttiness is making me think I'm a conservative. An editorial blandly accepts CCTV -- not Phil Burress' illiberal cult -- but 120 Closed Circuit TV cameras to police our streets.  

A tenet of ethical reporting is to verify information not personally known to the reporter. That's true even if -- especially if -- a public official, a public figure or a syndicated columnist makes a claim of public concern.  

First, some facts. Advertising supports most newspapers. Advertising in daily papers is slipping dangerously. Now, some thoughts. Dailies have been dying for decades, and the situation is similar for weeklies and "local" radio stations.