The Christian Science Monitor, a highly respected national newspaper, is throwing in the towel on paper.

The Monitor has announced that it is giving up its daily newsprint and ink distribution -- and instead will be a web-only publication. It will run the presses only for its weekend edition. Poynter Online explains:

The Monitor, celebrating its 100th birthday this month and next, is the most prominent newspaper to date to take the online plunge. But, like some of the others that have quit daily print publication this year, it has special circumstances that would not apply to the typical metro daily. In the Monitor's case, those circumstance include a modest circulation -- about 50,000 -- combined with national distribution. Also, it is owned by the Church of Christ, Scientist, which has been willing to underwrite operating shortfalls though the years but not the big losses that come in the current deteriorating print climate.

Here's something new and interesting on the decline of newspapers.

A longtime Los Angeles Times reporter, William Lobdell, has left the paper and provides his list of the 42 Things I Know about the newspaper, its challenges and its future in the Web 2.0 world.

Here's a sample, from Lobdell's blog:

There is plenty of uncertainty about the newspapers, but this much I know:

1. I made the right decision leaving the newspaper business.
2. That’s not to say I’m happy about breaking up with my one true career love.
3. But the business model for newspapers is broken.
4. No one has figured out how to fix it.
5. That’s probably because it can’t be fixed.

There's a lot more in the post worth reading ... from someone who's actually been in the trenches.

Some things just leave me scratching my head.

In an interview with Robert Thomson, the new managing editor of Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal, we find out that the Journal is gunning for The New York Times by way of its ability to be objective. Business Week reports:

Still, how can the Journal compete with the Times' much bigger newsroom? No worries, shrugs Thomson. "Journalists at The Wall Street Journal have the objective of being objective. At The New York Times, you have news with a skew. Or a skew with news."

This is a ludicrous assertion, albeit one that echoes his boss, Rupert Murdoch. Told that such talk sends some into seizures, Thomson concedes "there are great journalists at the Times," but the paper's "calcification of culture" gives the Journal an opportunity.

A Chicago Tribune piece that talks about USA Today's upcoming 25th anniversary makes a point all communicators should think about -- particularly in today's challenging environment.

Recall, when it first came out, USA Today was derided as "McPaper" for putting out very short stories that couldn't possibly be substantive...

Here's the beef:

Enough of doom and gloom. Here's some good news for the newspaper industry.

The folks at The Bivings Report have compiled a list of the Top 10 newspaper websites and run through the features that make them special. They were rated "not only on their web features but also on the design, aesthetics and general usability of the site."

And, the winners are...

1. The New York Times
2. The Washington Post
3. USA Today

For the Nos. 4-10, please check out the Bivings post itself.

So, just what made the best, the best?

As newspapers struggle to survive in the Web 2.0 world, it's all too tempting for them to think of the blogosphere and other new media as the enemy.

This interesting post suggests newspapers should embrace these new mediums, and provides some concrete recommendations.

6. Reporters need to do more than write. The new world calls for a new skillset, and you and Mr. Notebook need to make some new friends, like Mr. Microphone and Mr. Point & Shoot.

David Halberstam, a journalist and author who won the Pulitzer Prize and exhibited a tremendously broad range of interests and expertise throughout his career, died today in a car accident.

There are going to be lots of stories about him tomorrow.

Perhaps the best tribute, though, is a list of his books, which you can find on Newsvine.

Here's an excerpt:

-- The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert F. Kennedy (1969)

-- Ho (1971)

-- The Best and the Brightest (1972)

-- The Powers That Be (1979)

-- The Breaks of the Game (1981)

-- The Amateurs: The Story of Four Young Men and Their Quest for an Olympic Gold Medal (1985)

-- The Reckoning (1986)

-- Summer of '49 (1989)

It's worth taking note that even as news professionals ponder their "broken business" with dismay, a few innovative news outlets are expanding, perhaps in a sign of things to come.

Call them -- citizens journalism -- outlets.

The first, launched last week, is Topix.com, formerly the news aggregator Topix.net. With a page for each zip code in the country and a policy allowing anybody to post or edit reports, commentary and photos about local happenings, Topix.com gives local citizens the power to determine what's news. As noted on WebWare, its editors are users; editors can write stories of their own, and non-editors can comment on stories and submit them.

It's been pretty big news that real estate magnate Sam Zell has won the bidding for Tribune Co., the nation's second-largest newspaper company with titles including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and The Baltimore Sun.

The question, of course, is what is the company's future under Zell?

Jason Calacanis, on his calacanis.com blog, has some thoughts on this -- and they're not terribly comforting if you happen to be a Tribune Co. employee. He begins with a Zell quote from a recent Washington Post story:

Word is out that the San Francisco Chronicle is in "big trouble" and looking at layoffs. That's no big surprise in today's difficult environment for newspapers.

However, a quote at O'Reilly Radar attributed to the paper's editor should raise red flags across the news business: