For some reason people seem to think the great newspaper downsize is because of the advent of Internet news and other forms of news on demand. I wholeheartedly disagree.

It just doesn't make sense for a newspaper desperate for subscribers to thin out their paper, lay off reporters and distributors, and on top of all that increase their subscription fees if they are trying to better compete with online news. Sure some are switching to online models, but with so few having any amount of success, I very much doubt the strategy being undertaken by newspapers has much of anything to do with thicker competition.

To the contrary, I say it's just another sign of the times. You've seen that sign. It's the one lit up in big glaring letters facing the highway. It's the sign you dread to visit – the gas station.

I've done a little bit of everything, and for a time, I delivered papers for the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire, so I understand a bit of the distribution plight for local papers. They depend entirely on independent contractors to deliver the paper every morning to individual subscribers, stores, corporate subscribers, and coin operated machines.

These independent contractors are responsible for their gas, repairs, and vehicle in total. For a while they were paid very well, then gas took its steep turn in that ugly upward direction, and newspapers all of a sudden had a lot of openings for delivery drivers.

If the paper isn't getting delivered, then the publisher isn't making any money. So, I surmise they decided to free up capital to pay drivers more by laying off reporters and thinning out the paper in addition to increasing the subscription fees.

To me that makes a lot more sense than what the media would otherwise have you believe. What do you think?

You can find out more about Patricia Mayo and her other projects at Mayobrains.com or ComHacker.org.