Once called the fourth estate because of the power it wielded, newspapers  are headed down a path from which there is no return. I blogged about it a while back (check it out), well it looks like the king of bargain basement pickings has seconded the motion. Check out Warren Buffet’s ideas on where the newspaper industry is headed.

http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/107029/Business-Musings-From-Woodstock-for-Capitalists

In the digital age, when the first edition rolls off the press, the news contained within its pages is already being rehashed on cable networks, blogged, twitted and messaged using cellphones, PDAs and smartphones. The failure of the Rocky Mountain News earlier this week highlights the eroding relevance of newspaper in an increasingly digital society.

Given the number of people employed by this industry, their is a subtext that seems to be emerging during these difficult economic times. Many wonder whether the industry will recover. Most feel certain it will endure but I’m more pessimistic.

The power of the paper was its strength to deliver news to localized areas in mass quantity. The power came from having the loudest voice with the greatest reach in a given areana. Though newspapers will taut the quality of news and reporting as the primary reason for circulation, I’m not sure most Americans can really discern the difference. So this, in the consumer’s eyes may be a secondary motivation. Primary is the understanding that they have reach.

With the growth of the internet and its ability to organize, inform and tweet a topic to death, no longer do papers hold a monopoly on reach. With that monopoly gone, I think the newspaper model is busted. How do they overcome their loss of power?

That said, how many readers have a subscription to the paper? How many read the paper for its articles? How many for the ads?