There is a kind of vicious circle going on; as the proportion of men reading papers declines, more women are brought on board to write, and this in turn reduces the interest of the paper for men. That doesn't really concern me -- there are lots of alternatives to the Fairfax press -- except insofar as women in general may be more likely to toe the 'party line' and less keen to strike out and unearth new material on their own. We know that women are less likely to adopt extreme positions than men; the trouble is that sometimes extreme positions are the right ones to adopt.

I am a bit bemused by the suggestion that there is another worthwhile newspaper in Sydney other than the SMH, which aims at a serious readership. The only other Sydney rag is the Telegraph which is a very poor tabloid as far as I can see. So bad as Granny can be it is way better than the alternative. Now if we are talking "on line" media, that is whole different ballgame.

I agree. Of course there are national papers such as the Australian, and Melbourne papers such as The Age.

But if we want to know what is going on in Sydney with a range of issues such as these- where would you go but the Herald? That's the point!
I mean issues like:

- the need for better traffic flows around Sydney..and we have had several very bad mornings with journeys to work confounded by accidents in the Harbour Tunnel etc

- Sydney's tired public transport system, which hasn't changed that much since the 1930s apart from small branch lines in the Eastern Suburbs and similar. Important, but hardly servicing the newer populations of west and southwest Sydney

- the perennial delays in choosing a second airport. How many major cities are there with ONE airport?

- the "Daily Terror" says it is "for Sydney" but it was the SMH that exposed the messy dealings which ICAC has taken up.

PS what's a "hight" referred to above?

The old format is certainly superior for it was rapidly leading to the best format for it, unpublished. No evil empire is required (the Australian), the general incompetence and unreality of "Progressives" will suffice. Calling Herald readers thoughtful is a laugh, their population is obsessed with a destructive form or Status Competition ("no I'm the most Virtuous / Caring / Sensitive"); eventually the Boat People system was relaxed and they have drowned a 1000 plus (and rising, as warned).

Further as Herald readers work for the Government, Unis, Unions and other institutions and are richer than most Workers, how come they won't pay more to keep their paper going? How about a face price of $3?