Even web-based local papers are in trouble. AOL/Huffington Post goes into towns, sets up a local website called “The Patch”, hires some local out of work journalist for like $35K per year, gives them a budget for stringers and vacation substitution, waits until the local media is out of business, then takes away the budget, hoping that the stringers will be willing to work for free by pretending that it’s something called “hyper-local” rather than a multi-billion dollar operation.
 
Bart