PR Differently makes a bold sounding prediction:

The second half of 2007 is when we will witness the death of the first "big" newspaper from the convergence of blogs, podcasts, and the like.

by this, I mean we will see the shuttering of a "major" player - think the Times, the Journal, something like that, and in its place will rise up the digital-only version. Be it "digital paper," (which will probably be cheaper than regular paper) or web/cast based, the newspaper will die as we know it, and others will follow.

I suspect that the NY Times subscription plan is going to be a lot less successful than they hope - I sure won't pay $49.95 a year for a paper with loose to non-existant editorial standards (think Jayson Blair), and with mostly dull editorial writers - I can get far more interesting commentary - from all parts of the political spectrum - from the blogosphere. Wouldn't surprise me a bit to see the Times be first in line, especially if their dead tree numbers keep dropping.