I see what you’re describing as a partnership like that a museum or archive might have in creating a publication based on holdings or an exhibit. Wonderful stuff, but not the same thing. Newsgathering is writing that famous “first draft of history” and it’s quite another responsibility. And one that librarians (I would argue) need to defend as passionately as scholarly communication.

The real threat to newspapers isn’t Google, it’s corporate ownership that demands quarterly profit margins that demand cuts that make the product less valuable that means smaller revenues that means cutting more positions… okay, sell this asset and go buy something else that’s more profitable now that we’ve looted this one.

It’s a different dynamic than the crisis in scholarly publishing but it’s the same root cause. Concentrating ownership of information in the hands of a few companies whose entire focus is on profits not providing quality information is bad for society. This is exactly why people were on the streets in Seattle and Quebec and Miami – and whether you identify as a capitalist or not, we need to build public awareness of the importance of good information, whether it’s tax-supported basic science or a free and robust press.

Yes, let’s act locally. Let’s also think globally. This is a part of information literacy that needs far more attention than we give it.