Dead Trees. Very Dead Trees.

I like newspapers. A lot. Been reading them for nearly 40 years. But the latest numbers are just scary.

Six months ago, average daily paid circulation for weekdays was about 14.8 million, for the top 25 newspapers. It's now about 14.4 million. For weekends, the average Sunday numbers were about 15.7 million. Now, that figure has dropped to roughly 15 million.

So about 1 million fewer newspapers are being sold, yes?

Of course, no telling how many readers have stopped taking dead tree versions and are getting their fix online. Still, 1 million fewer papers is one of those canary-in-the-coal-mine numbers.

I suppose if there's any hope, it's here: Television writers have gone on strike. Between that and the cancellation of "Dog, The Bounty Hunter," maybe there's hope for western civilization yet.

Read of the week: The Book of Vice.