Worth reading over at "That's the Press, Baby"

David Sullivan, a longtime journalist and fine thinker on matters of the press who doesn't get enough recognition, has picked up the digital pen lately and is on a roll on his blog.

• His Nov. 3 A death in the desert about the announced closing of Arizona's East Valley Tribune is an insightful look into newspaper "mashups," which were all the rage in the 1990s and why they likely fall apart in an age when we can be so much more worldly because of the Internet but also can drill down to the hyper-local level.
• Two days later, in What if ... again, he introduced me to a blogger I have already bookmarked - Judy Sims, who used to be in charge of the digital space for the Toronto Star. I had not seen her Top 10 lies newspaper execs are telling themselves. But it's one of those pieces every editor and newsroom exec should have to read numerous times. Her thoughts about whether existing ad staffs can sell online touch on one of the underdiscussed but most imporant topics.
• And in How many axes can be made, his trenchant commentary to the comments on another blog's post asking whether the N.Y. Times should ditch its sports section highlight the difficulties of a mass market vehicle in this digital age. As Sullivan writes, "The question isn't that interesting, but the range of responses is, and really shows why our friend the newspaper is in such straits."

All are worth taking a spin. David writes sporadically these days, but I'd bookmark his feed because when he does write, it is very good stuff.