One of the most compelling and critically important side stories (or maybe it is THE story and the business stuff is secondary) related to the death of the daily newspaper is the impact on our communities, our society, and our democracy. There are a wide range of opinions about what will happen to the vacuum being created as newspapers implode and disappear, or at a very minimum, become far less able to afford true journalism. I subscribe to the belief that the concern is extremely justified, but that successful alternatives are already emerging and will continue to do so at an accelarting pace. In any event, Doonesbury has a great arc this week on the dumbing of America and the panel below even connects to the death of newspapers….very amusing but horrifying as well.

In anticipation of the day that the Minneapolis Star Tribune stops publishing (which could happen any week now), I’ve decided to take steps to prepare for life without a local daily. I am also interested in determining how hard it would actually be to wean myself off of an increasingly irrational addiction to a local newspaper. It should prove to be an interesting exercise (most likely for no one but myself, I am fully aware).

I currently read 3 newspapers every morning (Strib, NYT, WSJ), and I am only contemplating the elimination of the Strib. As a result, my daily national and international news will continue to come from the New York Times and the Wall Steet Journal, supplemented by news from the Economist, Harpers, the New Yorker, and about a dozen other magazines. Despite that fact, I have subscribed to daily emails from the two leading national, online-only news sites – Slate.com and the Huffington Post. The daily emails from slate provide the lead stories from the NYT, the L.A. Times, and the Washington Post, while The Huffington Post email provides the top stories and columns from that site. (Already, in just a day or so, I’ve read one of the more interesting columns on Caroline Kennedy in which Steve Clemons opines that she is not qualified to be Senator and that Obama should throw her a life raft in the form of the Ambassadorship to Great Britain. I also read last night a great column by David Sirota on how patently absurd Fox News has become with such nonsense declarations as ‘Historians pretty much agree that FDR prolonged the Great Depression).

On the more frivolous side of the content delivered by the local daily, it took virtually no effort to find ways to replace the only two comic strips I read – Dilbert and Doonesbury. I have added an RSS feed from Dilbert.com to my RSS reader to get the daily Dilbert cartoon, and I signed up for a free email on GoComics to get Doonesbury sent to me via email every day (the first comic is delivered for free and more than one comic can be sent by paying a fee). Interestingly enough, there was an article in Sunday’s New York Times about how cartoonists are adapting to (or perhaps thriving in) a new world in which distribution is no longer solely dependent on the newspaper.

For local news, columns, and political coverage, I have also subscribed to a daily email from MinnPost (whose coverage of all things local is far better than the Star Tribune’s anyway) and Politics in Minnesota. Between the two, I am more than able to stay current on what is happening in the Twin Cities. I will be searching over the next few weeks for additional local content that I expect will delivered by local blogs (including restaurant reviews, arts, culture, entertainment, and miscellaneous local stuff, etc.)

So far so good.

Doonesbury’s Rick Redfern was layed off from the Washington Post this week in another high profile sign that the daily newspaper industry is coming to an end almost as swiftly as the investment banking industry. To add insult to injury, Redfern’s boss suggests that he could use his buyout package to ease the transition to becoming a full-time blogger. As always, Garry Trudeau has perfectly encapsulated in just 4 panels not only the entire demise of the daily newspaper business, but also the tectonics shifts that are taking place in the worlds of media and journalism (not to mention baby-boomers, agism, and disingenuous bosses). Brilliant. And on behalf of the 110 million, Rick, welcome to the club.