So Saith Simon

David Simon, former Baltimore Sun cops reporter and force behind the brilliant television shows Homicide and The Wire, visited the St. Petersburg Times on Friday to talk about the role of narrative journalism in prolonging the slow death of newspapers. (This one had Gangrey written all over it.) His main point seemed to be that stories — not articles, not reports, not infoboxes — will keep readers with us in the coming decades. He said people want something with depth, with nuance, with a beginning and a middle and an end, written by someone who's become an expert in the subject, rendered through the characters' eyes.

"You're going to have to provide them something they can't get by calling…