“Five years into the Iraq war, most details of the architecture and execution of the Pentagon’s campaign have never been disclosed. But The Times successfully sued the Defense Department to gain access to 8,000 pages of e-mail messages, transcripts and records describing years of private briefings, trips to Iraq and Guantánamo and an extensive Pentagon talking points operation.”

The Times has the throw-weight, legally and journalistically, to take on the Pentagon. Its has the horsepower to obtain, digest, analyze and report on a story this important and this complicated.

I browse newspaper Web sites from large metros and small weeklies almost daily. I’m amazed at the quality of the work I find. I’ve been watching journalism for nearly 40 years.

Lately, I’ve come to think this:

• Terrific journalists are doing terrific work for their audiences.

• But there are fewer terrific journalists doing fewer terrific stories.

• Without revenue, journalists don’t have the resources to produce such as stories as The Times’ military analyst piece.

• Very few bloggers have the resources to duplicate what a well-resourced journalism organization can do.

Thanks to all for their comments.

It seems to me that newspapers are very, very good at getting information and numbers very quickly, even from the clipping files of its reporters, if need be.

In a world in which Google wants to digitize every last scrap of ink on paper, the news biz ought to do as you suggest.

Thanks, as usual, for your comment.

A couple of things.

1. Newsprint prices will fall again. They always do. The paper industry is very cyclical. When prices rise, companies build more mills with the newest technology to cash in on the pulp rush. When prices fall, they take old mills off line and dismantle them until the next surge comes around. And, of course, prices fall because they started making more paper.

2. You and I agree that paper is not the future, so #1 is only a short-term consideration.

3. I’ve been thinking about the newspaper business and what it does best, and can do better than anyone. If I were they, I would produce a super search engine function that allows one to begin on an issue at the surface, then dive down through layers of information to discover as much detail as anyone could possibly want. The engine would be smart enough and linked enough to be intuitive in how it guides the researcher through the process.

Newspapers have access to archives, can digitize their own information, link to others, digitize book in the public domain, etc. And I think they can charge libraries, universities, school systems, and even individuals for the service.

A year ago, The New York Times Co. made $23.9 million in profit. This week, the company reported a loss of $335,000. That’s about the worst quarter-to-quarter loss the company has ever seen. Bet its CEO is thinking: "Holy crap! We’re screwed!&qu…