Why can’t it be the same in print? Advertisers are fleeing newspapers, in part, because advertising content is increasingly less effective in persuading readers to become potential customers. If ad content looked more like news content, rather than less, (better organized, logical, with a real story to tell) readers would be far more likely to utilize it to make their purchasing decisions. The newspaper would become a unique and valuable advertising tool, rather than a dying relic. Say it can’t work? Check out the Wall Street Journal most days and you’ll find a two, three or four-page spread of advertising content that looks just like the rest of the Journal’s editorial copy. It’s effective advertising and takes nothing away from the integrity of the news.

Editors and reporters are always on their guard to insure the business aspects of a newspaper do not interfere with the newsroom’s ability to report objectively. Maybe it’s time for the business side to invoke the same iron-clad barrier in reverse. To survive, newspapers must adopt a new mantra: “it’s the advertising, stupid.”