This isn't a particularly strong op-ed, especially for a big shot like David Carr. I don't see much explanation here as to why the consolidation (or formalized cooperation) of major newspapers is a desirable thing. It seems more of a last resort, or even a threat, rooted in a bogus safety-in-numbers mentality. Pay for content or else... Recommended as an important perspective in the debate over how to "save newspapers," but not what I consider a persuasive piece. (Compare to TJ Sullivan's ridiculous petition to have major newspapers shut down their Web sites for a week, in links.)

David Carr, as good a media columnist as there is, has produced a series of columns recently promoting discredited ideas, mainly the notion of charging for online content. A far more promising model would be to charge much more for the still-robust print edition, an idea he has yet to discover.