Speaking of comics (and I love comics), the delightful Comic Riffs blog written for the Washington Post by Michael Cavna reports that the Atlanta Constitution is dropping 25 percent of its space devoted to Sunday comics and uses that to open a discussion about the role of the Sunday color comics section since so many are available online for free.

I will only point out that Sunday color comics were started as a circulation builder when newspapers were in their most competitive mode (late 19th and early 20th centuries), and they have been considered as major draws for newspapers in competitive situations (such as New York) even up to recent times. On the other hand, less reader-seeking managements have buried them for years, even as their circulations declined.

What's wrong with trying to attract readers using tried-and-true methods as well as new ideas? Frankly, I'd like to see newspaper and magazine managements throwing out the stops to attract readers rather than seeming to meekly let them go while bemoaning the inevitability of the end of print.

An old ad slogan of the Leo Burnett advertising agency went something like this: "If you don't reach for the stars, you'll never grab one." I'd update it to: "If you don't seek readers, you'll never catch one."