Smerconish: Why Warren Buffett is right about newspapers

>>> let me finish tonight with this. warren buffett is one of america's wealthiest and most successful businessmen. such is the interest that buffett commands that even his secretary's tax rate can spark a political debate . has a market capitalization of $250 billion and employees 288,000 people. it has holdings in everything from geico to burlington northern to candies. buffett just released his annual letter to berkshire stoke holders. in 2012 berkshire achieved a total gain for shareholders of $21.1 billion. that's a profit that buffett called subpar. guess what he's bullish about. newspapers. smaller community based newspapers. during the past 15 months, berkshire acquired 28 daily newspapers at a cost of $344 million. a former newspaper boy acknowledged that television and the internet have created a challenging environment. he acknowledged that stock market quotes and the details of national sports events are old news long before the presses begin to roll. he said that the internet offers extensive information about both available jobs and homes and that television bombards viewers with political and international news. despite content, buffett laments in one area of interest after another, newspapers have lost their primacy. and as their audiences have fallen, so has advertising. revenues from help wanted classified ads along a huge source of newspapers have plunged in the past 20 years. then warren buffett said this. newspapers continue to reign supreme , however, in the delivery of local news. if you want to know what's going on in your town whether the news is about the mayor or taxes or high school football , there's no substitute for a local newspaper that's doing its job. a reader's eyes may glaze over after they take in a couple of paragraphs about canadian tariffs or developments in pakistan. a story about the reader himself or his neighbors will be read to the end. where there's a pervasive sense of community , a paper that serves the special needs of that community will remain indispensable to a number of its residents. he could have said something else. they provide an oversight function. in a world where everyone with a computer is a journalist, there's a lack of primary news gathering. and local papers often remain the best watch dog we have over local government . so here's hoping that the oracle of omaha's investment in american newspapers pays off.