The next step remains uncertain for what will go down in history as among the worst newspaper acquisitions.

On Friday, the deadline for submitting bids for the Boston Globe, which is owned by The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), passed. Two major contenders were expected to write figures on slips of paper and slide them across the proverbial desk: Platinum Equity, a Beverly Hills-based private equity firm and owner of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and Stephen E. Taylor, whose family sold the Globe in 1993.

Printers of the world unite! Feeling the squeeze from the likes of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), a group of magazine publishers is forming an industrywide joint venture ... for protection.

Led by Time Inc., a division of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), participating companies would create a digital storefront for their content. In this way, they could peddle their goods without the hefty carve-outs that come with Amazon and Apple deals.

With the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Tablet, newspapers doing what they should have done: thinking about the possible impact to their business and trying to find ways to mitigate it. This comes 15 years after the industry ignored the internet and a decade after it disregarded Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). Of course, unwilling to admit its salient and severe fallibility, the newspaper folks are saying that they don't want the Tablet to destroy print the way the iPod destroyed the music industry.

The newspapers are apparently worried that circulation could plunge, driving profits through the floor and jeopardizing their abilities to operate. They are concerned that properties like the New York Times Co.'s (NYSE: NYT) Boston Globe could wind up selling for a single-digit percentage of the original purchase price.

The battered Boston Globe isn't worth 90% of what the NY Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) paid for it, but it seems to have bounced a bit from the bottom of the barrel. In a meeting with a few hundred of the newspaper's employees, company chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and CEO Janet Robinson revealed that the Globe's finances have improved significantly. Because of this development, they continued, there is a chance the newspaper will not be sold.

This was the first meeting between company executives and the Globe's unions since the latter accepted pay cuts back in July. The newspaper, which has a 137-year history, lost $50 million in 2008 and looked like it was going to drop another $85 million this year. Though this no longer appears likely, the Globe is still in rough shape.

Gannett (NYSE: GCI), publisher of USA Today and other newspapers, as well as owner of many informational websites such as CareerBuilder.com, made some news of its own yesterday on Wall Street. After reporting second-quarter results, the stock had a great day. How great was Gannett's day? Shares closed higher by nearly 29%. Let me repeat that: 29%! And volume . . . it was way, way above the norm.

What in the world triggered this response by investors and/or traders? Gannett beat expectations. On an adjusted basis, the company made 46 cents per share. Earnings.com indicates that this performance is 10 cents better than analyst expected.

The NY Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) has decided to double down on a failing strategy: Charge more for print. As circulation declines, the ailing newspaper company has decided to extract as much revenue as possible from its tangible product, despite the fact that the market is shrinking.

Starting Monday, the company's flagship newspaper will cost $2 an increase of a third from the previous newsstand price of $1.50.

A ways back my father did some very interesting economic research into what happened to the price of drugs when a generic entered a market previously owned only by branded drugs. His findings? The entry of generics actually caused prices of brand prescriptions to rise as people who insisted on the branded prescription were willing to pay a higher price.

I was reminded of that research in reading today about the continuing decline in circulation of the big papers. The only one that managed a circulation gain was the Wall Street Journal. The hand wringing continues over this horrible state -- but this is a sign to the papers to make lemonade rather than lemons.

Revenue at newspapers has dropped so rapidly that companies in the industry cannot cut costs, even reporters, fast enough. The trouble is that too few reporters means too little news.

Five newspapers are banding together to share news. It may be the future of keeping editorial costs down and may buy a little time for large chains like Gannett (NYSE: GCI). According toThe New York Times, "The consortium is made up of The Daily News of New York; The Star-Ledger, based in Newark; The Buffalo News; The Record, based in Hackensack, N.J.; and The Times Union of Albany." The Daily News and Star-Ledger are among the largest papers in the country.

Many of the large newspaper chain purchases over the last several years have involved tremendous borrowing and the banks are at the door with eviction notices. Even the big companies in the industry are having trouble. According to The Wall Street Journal, Gannett, Inc. (NYSE:GCI) the country's largest newspaper publisher, said Wednesday it had tapped its credit line as short-term financing markets stall.

Several other chains, particularly McClatchy (NYSE:MNI) and Gatehouse (NYSE:GHS) are having crippling debt problems.

A number of media sources reported yesterday that the The Star Tribune in Minneapolis has missed a payment on its debt.

Although it is hard to imagine, some of these companies may fail and fail soon. The costs of newsprint, trucks, gas, and personnel are so great that a number of newspapers may complete shut down. Customers may wake up one morning and find the front step empty. The poor newspaper boy has lost his job.

It is a hard time when there is nothing to put in the bird cage.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

It looks like the complex $8.2 billion buyout deal for Tribune Co. (NYSE: TRB) is progressing.

This week, the company's shareholders tendered 222 million shares. Keep in mind that Tribune was looking for about 126 million shares. Although, if I was a shareholder, I would want to get out, too.

But there's a problem. The company had to agree to some draconian financing arrangements to get the deal done. This is according to a report in The Wall Street Journal [a paid service].

Tribune has issued about $7 billion in debt (yes, this deal's almost all debt). However, the debt markets were not so easy.

Tribune not only had to up its interest rates but also sell notes at a discount. In fact, Wall Street advisers had to forgo some fees.

It's too early to know if this is a sign that credit markets are generally getting tougher. But as for Tribune, the company still will need to raise $4 billion more in financing at the end of 2007. So, if credit markets get tougher, the financing may get even more onerous.

Today, Tribune's stock price fell 2.77% to $32.28.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

I just heard that Dean Baquet, the editor of the Los Angeles Times, has been pushed out by his Chicago-based overlords because he refused to oversee any more staff cuts.

Well, all of us members of the Fourth Estate, past and present, saw this coming. It's just another ill tiding for the newspaper industry.

The Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), owners of the Chicago Tribune (and lots of other media outlets), own the Los Angeles Times. It's been relentless in its pursuit of profits, slashing staff and other resources. It's slowly starving its brand by trying to wring every last penny of profit out of its business. And when was the newspaper business ever a money-making operation?

Yes, the newspaper industry is dying. Yes, more people get their news now from the Internet or TV. Yes, advertising revenue has tanked, again thanks to the Internet. I'll even hazard to say there won't be newspapers as we know them in 20 years time. But it ain't dead yet. There are still millions of people who get a newspaper every day, for whatever reason. And those people want a good product. The Los Angeles Times was a good product. A great brand.