About the Decline of American Newspapers

If there is but one bright spot of cynical newsrooms and corporate publishers (and the flimsiest of selfish excuses to post about what goes on Sunday, 8pm, on HBO), it is David Simon. As followers know, the co-creator of The Wire is a former beat reporter at the Baltimore Sun. It was there he got the inspiration and storylines for the awesomeness that is The Wire, which starts its final season this Sunday. Fans also no doubt know this season focuses on the media and its failure to cover the blight of urban neighborhoods. Or something like that. Read more about him, it, and (a little bit about) the decline of metro papers in this longish Atlantic profile, “The Angriest Man in Television.”