No News Would Have Been Bad News

REGARDLESS OF how you feel about their politics, the news that the management and editorial staffs of the Inquirer and the Daily News are likely going to settle their differences without a strike is something every Philadelphian should applaud. There is simply no other media outlet that covers this region's happenings with the breadth and depth of these papers. Even now, in their weakened state, hobbled by staff cuts and an uncertain advertising environment, they remain the only game in town for anything substantive about the area. A strike would have been ruinous, chasing even more readers to other, less informative media outlets. The Inky and DN have a lot of work to do in such critical areas as attracting and retaining younger viewers, and using the Web properly to disseminate news and opinions. A work stoppage would have crippled those efforts even before they got started.

Then, of course, there would have been the prospect of Jim Gardner reading the comics to viewers on the air. No one needed to see that.