Who are newspapers' real customers?

The headline is "The Rebirth of Newspapers," and the column by Tom Matlack in the Huffington Post is a paean to journalism. Matlack believes newspapers are born again because advertisers have fled elsewhere so they are becoming more responsive to their readers -- their true customers.

I used to argue that point with officials at Journal Communications when I was a section editor. To this day, I can't understand why the comics section -- the second-best-read section to sports in the Sunday newspaper -- is frequently covered by an advertisement. When newspapers were flying high a century ago, the comics were wrapped on the outside of the Sunday papers. And content was king.

May Matlack be right, and content win out.