Hey folks-- I've been out of the office on stories the last few days and have neglected the blog. My apologies and I'll get some more stuff up soon.

In the meantime, divert yourselves with David Simon's take on the news business. As we were discussing just the other day, industry conditionsare lousy, and that ain't a good thing for the legal system.

Simon says:
Yet here were the veterans -- the labor reporter, the courthouse maven, the poverty-beat specialist, the second medical beat guy and the prisons and corrections aficionado -- damned if they weren't walking out the door forever. There would be fresh hires, and some serious players would remain, of course. But no longer would it be practical to argue that newspapers were going to become more comprehensive, and better written -- the product of experienced and committed people for whom print journalism was a life's calling.
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Yeah, this isn't an upbeat day for news. Stay tuned, I'll be back with more posts soon.