If the only good news is the bad news, then newspapers must be doing great. Their forecasts have been consistently bleak and their downfall has been predicted as inevitable. Their circulation is steadily declining and they are not seeing the huge profits they once did. What caused this sudden economic collapse? The invention and spread of the Internet. The invention of the Internet brought with it low-cost publications and huge audiences. It also brought about a sudden change in the way business is conducted, so much so that newspapers have struggled to keep up. The Internet has also given rise to cheap classified ads and drained the lifeblood of newspapers (Farhi 15). All of these factors, from cheap publishing to business switching to the loss of classified ads, contributed to the collapse of newspapers. Newspapers enjoyed a "scarcity" advantage. Only newspapers could afford to profitably collect, print, and distribute the news of the day, and they could raise prices even as they provided fewer readers each year. Monopolistic newspapers were able to offer huge profit margins. They enjoyed this advantage until recently. The rise and spread of the Internet has provided low-cost editorial tools that could challenge newspapers (Farhi 14). Newspapers have lost their scarcity advantage and their monopoly on local news does not cost them almost nothing to publish their blog for all to see? How could they compete if bloggers didn't have to worry about circulation and distribution. They couldn't and can't compete against them while they are... in the middle of the paper...... t to a story. The future of journalism and newspapers may lie less in investigative journalism and more in being a reliable filter for Internet rumors. The enormous profits enjoyed by newspapers are at an end. They no longer have a monopoly on local news and classified ads. Now they have to compete with low-cost blogs and inexpensive advertising sites, like Craigslist. Newspapers also need to find a new business model for this digital world. If they can't keep up with technology, they are destined to become obsolete and collapse. Works Cited Farhi, Paul. “Don't blame journalism.” American Journalism Review 30.5 (2008): 14-5. Print.Lasica, JD Net profit. (The Future of Internet News Media) (Cover Article). 18 vol. , 1996. Print.Palser, Barb. "Free at last." American Journalism Review 30.1 (2008): 48. Print.