Please read this piece on what newspapers mean to the essential democratic structure of civil society. And silence your guffaws when you go on to read about the treatment of weekly journalists by the Guardian's own group.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/03/local-newspapers-journalism-democracy
http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/editors/2009/03/20/nuj-release-guardian-journalists-to-back-regional-colleagues/