“The Newspaper Is Dead” scream various blogs. Many people are suggesting we just let them die, but they’re obviosly not thinking this through. There are many uses of today’s newspaper that cannot be filled by the online versions of the same. There are some that have come out in defense for those that use the newspaper in non-traditional ways, such as for bird cage lining, floor protection for crafts, and fish wrap, but there is a class of people who have been completely ignored. There are people who depend upon the physical form of the newspaper to practice their craft, to facilitate their presentation of work. Who are these people?

We’ve forgotten completely about The Hostage Takers.

The time-honored tradition of parading a hostage in front of cameras holding today’s newspaper is now in peril, unless we act now. I call upon President Obama and the Congress to bail out the newspaper industry so hostage takers in this country have the ability to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that their hostage was alive and well as of the pressing of the newspaper.