Hallelujah

Hallelujah - the New York Times has  decided to put ads on the front page for the first time after all those  years. The move may be controversial with some readers of  "The Old Gray Lady" but the only real wonder is that the purity of the front page has been preserved from commercial vulgarity until now.

This after all is  the paper that plans to raise $255 million in borrowing against its New York headquarters and is under direct assault from Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal. Murdoch has  made no bones about his determination to steal away as many of the Journal's readers and advertisers as possible. The weapons used have been more general news in the business publication and up-market consumer coverage. 

The New York Times is in a fight for its life against a dogged and determined opponent.

But the first ad today highlighting CBS programmes  such as CSI, The Mentalist and 60 Minutes is  symbolic of much more than a battle with Murdoch.

With advertising crashing all newspapers everywhere will have to put out sacred cows to grass and come up with new ideas. Everything from co-operation with former rivals to cutting delivery in peripheral regions is now up  for grabs.

In a form of business Darwinism only those who has adapt to unprecedented circumstances will survive and  ultimately prosper.

A number of previously enormous  beasts - if not entire  species - could simply disappear.

There are always lots of annual prizes for enterprising journalism usually awarded at black tie dinners.

Similar celebrations should now  be laid on for the best innovations in the newspaper business - and indeed throughout the rest of the traditional media - to ensure  that they  do not  become endangered species.

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