Print readership is down, and along with it, print advertising and subscription revenues. Online readership is up -- in some cases, -- but most sites are having a problem monetizing page views.

This may seem strange, considering online spending by local companies and national companies targeting local markets is surging. The New York Times, citing research from Borrell Associates, , five times 2004 levels. But newspaper sites are only getting about $3.5 billion. The remainder "is mostly going to portals and stand-alone Web sites," says the article.

The Times goes on to describe what's happening at Scripps, which is belatedly moving its sales force away from a print-centric focus and using to display local ads and target local users who use Yahoo services.

However, I have to question how effective this effort will be. My doubt basically centers around the following question: Even if newspaper companies build an online sales force and tools to serve local ads, will local ad clients come?

I'm not so sure.