If you consider the land value and the printing business (the Statesman facility prints the Chronicle, the Sunday New York Times, and others) along with the paper and online business, then $50MM is a bargain.

Which leaves the buyer wondering “What is the potential for the Statesman brand to thrive online?”

Have you noticed the comments sections at Statesman.com. Trolls, trolls, trolls. Readers have begun to seek out blogs that cover the issues they are interested in.

The unfortunate reality of the Statesman is that it is journalistically empty. Most of the ink is spent on AP and syndicated stories/columns. In terms of local coverage, local bloggers could quickly fill the gap and moderate the discussion if the Statesman just went away.

COVERING SYSTEM CONTESTED: CASE FILED AGAINST THE GERMAN CARMAKERS AT THE ROME PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE.

Source: Corriere della Sera 01/03/2009 – Michele Manno

Rome
It is certainly a strange case that has ended up on the desk of the Public Prosecutor in Rome.
You could almost say that the two contestants are the present situation and the future.
The present situation is represented by designer Giuseppe Bianco; the future by the well-known BMW car manufacturers.
Why future? Because BMW recently won an award in Paris for the most beautiful “Concept Car of 2008”.
The car has an unusual name: ”Gina”. And we know for a fact that, like Gina Lollobrigida and all other women, Gina loves elegant clothes. So much so that she has been called the “Light visionary model”.
She is a car that we will never actually see on the road, like all “concept cars” which, by definition, propose new ideas destined to take shape on the roads of everyday life some time in the near future. The idea is in the composition of the car body, consisting principally of an elasticized fabric stretched over the frame which can be modified at the touch of a button, depending on the driver’s tastes. So it is a fabric to suit all occasions, from a simple meal in a pizzeria to a Gala evening in Monte Carlo. It is a kind of travelling haute couture wardrobe.
But this is where the present, with its laws and regulations, impacts on “Gina’s” destiny. Fashion designer Giuseppe Bianco has initiated a case against BMW, alleging counterfeit and the violation of the industrial property law, claiming that it was he who, in 2005, invented the exclusive procedure by which it is possible to apply any type of covering (leather, fabric and technical materials) to the body of a car or motorbike, thus making “the coverings themselves impermeable and resistant to atmospheric agents”. Before turning to the justice system, in this case public prosecutor Marcello Monteleone, Giuseppe Bianco’s lawyers warned BMW not to continue any activities connected with the use of this process. But the car was still presented.
Whatever the truth of the matter – and legal battles over patents are usually complex – perhaps one day we will hear the verdict. It is up to the judiciary to decide who is right and who is wrong: but for once the case does not concern murder, disputes or violence, but the future of a car; and the prosecution and defence have to make a decision about “Gina”.

You’re right in that as the audience grows, the actual contact goes down. At least in the one-to-one sense. However, if you look at it from another point of view:

1 follower – 1 conversation
10 followers – 10 conversations
100 followers – 15 conversations (argument’s sake)
1000 followers – 50 conversations
10000 followers – 200 conversations

So although the one-to-one approach dies a natural death, you’re still conversing with more people because of the sheer numbers. Yes, you’re missing out on a helluva lot more, but that extra 10,20,50 or 100 conversations that you now have? Aren’t these social interactions?