Newspapers in Big Trouble, Should Americans Care?

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The Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times are on facing serious financial trouble, and local newspapers are cutting back all over the country. Will the Internet replace the papers as America's major source of news? Can it perform those functions Thomas Jefferson thought central to the functioning of American democracy? Also, the Federal Reserve plans new rules to crack down on shady lending practices, and the last vestiges of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program are now in Canada.

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Making News

Fed Plans New Rules to Crack Down on Shady Lending Practices ()

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke plans a clamp down on so-called "exotic mortgages" and high-cost loans to people with weak credit. He also wants to extend the kind of low-cost overnight loans that prevented the Wall Street banker Bear Stearns from collapsing before it was sold in March. Paul Leonard is director of the California Office of the Center for Responsible Lending.

Guests:

Paul Leonard: Director, California Office of the Center for Responsible Lending

Main Topic

Is the Newspaper Industry Stumbling? Crumbling? ()

Newspapers are shedding staff and reducing services, just like other industries, but even if the economy picks up, they may not bounce back. Tumbling ad revenues and stockholders hungry for profit are creating a familiar scenario, but the Internet is what's making things different. Major papers in New York, Washington and Los Angeles give readers national and international perspective. Local papers keep watch on business interests and City Hall. Will technology lead to the erosion of institutional memory and professional standards?

Guests:

Richard Perez-Pena: Media Reporter, New York Times
Russ Stanton: Publisher, Editor of the Los Angeles Times
John Carroll: Former Editor, Los Angeles Times
Ken Doctor: analyst, Content Bridges
Lee Siegel: critic of the Internet culture

Reporter's Notebook

How Did Iraq's Uranium End Up in Canada? ()

He may not have had weapons of mass destruction, but Saddam Hussein did accumulate 550 tons of so-called "yellowcake," uranium that requires enrichment to fuel a nuclear bomb. It wasn't easy, but it's been removed from Iraq to Canada, where it arrived on Saturday. The 1.2 million pounds of yellowcake, which are currently in the port city of Montreal, are now the property of the Canadian company, Cameco. Andy Hoffman reports for the Globe and Mail, based in Toronto.

Guests:

Andy Hoffman: Mining Reporter, Globe and Mail

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