There has been much gnashing of teeth among journalists and publishers that the end is nigh for newspapers. Frequent targets of blame for the decline in newspaper readership are user-generated content, citizen journalists and the explosion of the blogosphere.

But if you look at recent stats showing the growth in popularity of newspapers’ online properties, it seems that UGC may be helping to save the ink-stained members of the fourth estate. Online newspapers are attracting more readers than ever. I don’t think it’s coincidental that this popularity has come since many papers have embraced both the Internet’s immediacy (real time news is the thing) and its ability to foster debate and discussion with readers. It’s also come since major papers such as the New York Times have taken the locks off their content making most or all of it free online. (more…)