A brilliant new scheme for measuring the productivity of journalists. - By Michael Kinsley - Slate Magazine

Michaels new scheme does bring out some perverse incentives. Will we see the use of "Very" increase dramatically? How do you judge quality? Blog chatter? His logic about the WSJ needing fewer pages and having better ads works, but alas the Tribune lacks the quality writers, readers, demographics, etc that the WSJ has. The news is that the balance sheet must look horrible. What are the margins on the newspapers?