Newspaper and newspaper groups are likely to default on their debt and go out of business next year — leaving “several cities” with no daily newspaper at all, Fitch Ratings says in a report on media released Wednesday.

So says a new article from Editor and Publisher.

My first thought upon reading. “Holy crap.” I’ve known this was a possibility for a while. Hell, I even know this is reality. I’m a media geek. I read and write about this stuff all day long. And I’m not even a direct consumer of local print journalism. I read Chicagoist, The Beachwood Reporter and Huffington Post Chicago to keep tabs on local news (which makes me part of the problem and the news consumer of the now/future).

But when in read in black and white (pixels) it actually does hit you in the gut. I’m thinking about:
1) The Journalists–where will they all go? This is a human and actual practical question. I’m not the first or last genius to ask this question, but I’m putting it out there again.

2) The Journalism–the simple answer is that the journalism will just happen online. But most of the online local stories I consume still overwhelmingly refers, links and uses journalism originating from print media.

Sure some of the reporting will move online but there’s not a huge amount of local newspapers sustaining itself online only. The local blogs I read don’t employ or pay a huge number of journalists the way traditional print media outlets do. That’s how they survive.

And while they’ve already been disappearing, brainpower and effort into local investigative reporting could continue to slip. Many would point to the range of community-funded journalism (like the new spot.us) as the answer, and while the idea is awesome, the proof is not in the pudding quite yet. And no, Maureen Dowd’s column on the future of local journalism is outsourcing, is NOT the answer.

There’s still a lot wrestle with here. Although I do look forward to how journalists and publishers can take advantage of online tools (i.e. mashups) to tell stories in a different, but no less in-depth way. For example, look at what these students did with the News 21 Initiative!

3) Seriously–What will people read on the the train or the bus to work???? That’s the place where people have time to consume news! I guess it’s onto pushing for increased mobile media and wireless service in underground train tunnels.

FYI: Did you know about themediaisdying twitter feed? Way to be depressed and up-to-date on all the latest media gossip at the same time…