Why the music-licensing model won't save newspapers

After a century of foot-dragging, newspaper publishers are suddenly aflame with the desire to innovate, giving serious consideration to just about every alternative business model that offers a sliver of a hope of preserving them from oblivion.

Their latest idea: Newspapers can emulate the music business, banding together to form a single overarching licensing body that would extract payments from any commercial outlet that republishes their content. According to The Wall Street Journal, this notion was a focus of discussion at a hush-hush summit that newspaper executives held in Illinois last week.