And now for my problems with your problems with her arguments:

1. Not only is she naught to mention rising and steady circulations of printed newspapers in several parts of the world, notably Asia, but she hardly mentions printed versions at all.

And now for my problems with your problems with her arguments:

1. Yes, circulation has risen in those nations (notably Asian) that have recently industrialized. I’m sure that the market for indoor plumbing in those nations has risen, too. But your examples divert attention from the fact that circulation is steadily plummeting in the countries that have long been industrialized -- such as North American and Western European nations and Japan. The extremities of the newspaper industry are healthy but its mature core is ill.

2. Any circulation increases due to broadsheets converting to tabloid formats are but brief upticks amid steadily declines. Do you really think that those circulations will now steadily increase? Do you really think that format changes will solve the problems? I don’t. Those broadsheets should have gone compact long ago.

3. The verdict is far from clear that newspaper websites will become successful. Though many daily newspapers have attracted large numbers of monthly online readers, the data shows that those numbers -- except in rare cases-- are a fraction of the numbers who read the equivalent newsprint editions. The industry has spent billions creating online editions that are read by fewer people, less frequently and less fully than the print editions that are declining in circulation. Nor have those online helped newspapers attract younger readers; the average ages online and in print are the same. (http://www.ojr.org/ojr/business/1078349998.php)

4. Carefully consider your example that The New York Times’ has begun to turn a profit with their online ventures. That’s after publishing it for ten years in the fasted growing medium in history. If it’s taken that long a premier title such as the NYT that long to become cash-flow positive, how long will it take the average daily newspaper? Moreover, a 2002 study by Borrell Associates of 245 U.S. newspaper websites found that half those sites’ revenues were simply accounting transfers from print editions.

5. Ms. Kiss didn’t imply that online advertising is a fad. She implied that there is a fad among newspaper executives to take credit for building ‘successful’ websites when all that’s actually happening is the rising tide of online advertising is floating all boats, even the leaky web vessels of newspapers.

6. Care to show any data at all that “local news websites, especially in the United States, are flourishing with the incorporation of citizens media”? I know of none. The topic of ‘citizens media’ certainly is flourishing among U.S. newspaper website executives, but whether ‘citizens media’ turns out to be gold or just a ‘Pet Rock’ fad remains to be seen.

7. Although it is “the Editors Weblog belief that many critics in the media industry are jumping the gun on the predicted end of what is to remain a pertinent and powerful media force”, the data are the bullets and those critics are merely pulling the trigger. The industry can deny the threat, but denial won’t disarm the reality of the data’s impact.

p.s.: Pardon the data hiccup in my previous post; it's the result of using a public Internet terminal while traveling.

The opinions in this article aren't mine - but the combined observations and comments from a wide number of editors. They were nearly all from the UK and US, which explains why Asian trends weren't covered.

I can't say exactly who attended - but you name them, they were there.

For what it's worth, my own opinion is that printed newspapers will continue on a much smaller scale by becoming more feature-orientated and with bigger, bolder visuals. That's based on my own newspaper consumption which is only ever when I'm lounging around at the weekend trying not to use a computer.

Quality content is always valuable, but newspaper sites will have to work much harder to stay 'alive'. They'll have to up their game considerably to keep up with web-only sites - and sort out their design, their usability and their technical proficiency. And stop trying to mimic newspapers both in terms of their design and their business models. But that's just my opinion.

I believe two trends underpin the decline in newspaper circulations, especially in the West. The first is the decline of a reading culture; the second is the decline in trust in newspapers (and most other civil institutions).
You all probably know the arguments for and against better than I, but when I look at the media consumption habits of 16-30 year-olds, using the newspapers to find out what's going on in the world is not their priority.
TV is also at risk when advertisers like Proctor & Gamble shift their budgets into "experience-based encounters", word of mouth, and "viral" campaigns.
The thing is, there are fewer and fewer compelling reasons to buy a newspaper. The question is, what are you going to do about that?