In the broad range of organizations that question the expanding role of marketing in public life, a group called the Anti-Advertising Agency Foundation For Freedom stands among the most ardently opposed to the traditional but uneasy co-existence of advertising and the editorial craft.

In the midst of a year that has seen a truly existential crisis for print journalism, it's instructive to ask ourselves just what kind of paper product newspapers are selling these days. The photo above is what landed on my front stoop last Sunday. Inside the advertising bag was a free sample of what's reputed to be some of the most absorbent pulp money can buy ... plus the San Francisco Chronicle.

Media reformers across the country have long complained that the current print media paradigm is in need of an overhaul. The Public Press concept is one effort to make up for inadequacies in the business model that has, until recently, supported robust print journalism. Approaching those new -- and as yet unknown -- business models has become a growing topic for debate. One illuminating sign was the publication late last month of the annual State of the News Media report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.