A (Very) Humble Suggestion for the Newspaper Industry.

Give yourself a tip jar. Internet widgets like this are easy to put together, and if the statistics from Clinton's Giving are to be believed (and we're no Dick Morris), then go ahead and do it. It's easy to assemble, easy for users to give as much (or as little) as they want, emphasizes the fact that the community paper adheres to the communal interests, would be not be obtrusive on the website, offers something to the four million online viewers who currently have an ostensible nothing, and whether or not it would bring you from the red back into the black, it's a productive step to take, it's something that can be done, and it does not involve a lot of hand-wringing, what-can-you-do? looks, David Simon's absurdly retroactive idea, and needless blame cast upon the internet.