Extra, Extra!

Here's something you might not know: Tomorrow is Buy a Newspaper Day. OK, it's not Valentine's, or St. Paddy's, but the designation promotes something good.

Are we tooting our own horn? You bet.

The travails of the industry have been well documented. Technological change as well as a weakening economy combine to make life difficult not only for newspapers but for the information industry as well. Viewership of serious TV news continues to dwindle. A trend toward disengagement may be the most troubling of all.

Blogs and other outlets on the Internet may be replete with insight and vitriol, but numerous indices suggest the citizenry increasingly tunes out the important things. Public knowledge of public policy seems woefully deficient. The excitement of last year's elections did not reverse the momentum. Dumbing down continues. The so-called innocence that America loses every few years is a function of ignorance and is not a virtue.

Newspapers remain contrarian in the best sense of the word. We pay attention, and are determined to give our readers the information and analysis essential to citizenship. The Editorial Pages in particular strive to promote rigorous debate, a commitment that occasionally annoys partisans and ideologues of all stripes. And while we suspect the next Shakespeare will not debut in newsprint, we believe journalism can approach art. Our columnists know how to make sentences sing; their prose can be appreciated and envied even by those who disagree with every word.

Newspapers deliver. They offer stories, scores, pictures, charts, puzzles, comics, guides, whatever anyone could want.

Friends and critics reading these words do not need to be alerted to Buy a Newspaper Day. But we won't complain if they take the opportunity to buy an extra copy for a daughter or son, niece or nephew, a neighbor or a stranger -- or a special someone.