DESPERATE MEASURES

WaPo Googles for Collaboration

Could talks yield solution to newspapers' woes?

Writing Monday in his weekly column in The Washington Post, Howard Kurtz bemoans the end of newsprint, conceding that the future is decidedly bleak. Nevertheless, amid all the gloom and doom is one glimmer of hope: top execs at The Washington Post and Google are in discussions about a possible collaboration. The ideas being batted around involve "creating new Web pages to technological tools for journalists or readers." Of course, the D.C. paper is at a bit of a disadvantage at the negotiating table, as Google makes a pretty penny using the The Post's content without paying for it. A Post executive, referring to the negotiations, said, "On the journalism side of the conversation we've learned a lot."