Dan Rather blames media conglomeration for the demise of newspapers; and, in a speech in Austin, Texas,  he had this to say (from the Daily Texan):

“Is there really any reason we should care if newspapers survive, either in hard copy form, online form or both?” Rather asked. “The little discussed truth is that newspapers form the very foundation of the news pyramid. And newspapers continue to drive the news agenda in all media.”

For the record, I still have my T-shirt that says: “The Hartford Courant, where TV gets its news.”