Columnist by Day, Bookie by Night?

The NY Times' Maureen Dowd suggests that vice might be just the tonic needed to save newspapers.

One idea - allow newspapers to take bets on sports:

Self-described print press “fanatic” Mortimer Zuckerman, who owns The Daily News and U.S. News & World Report, proposed to Forbes that the federal government could save newspapers by allowing sports betting on newspaper Web sites.

“It would take Congressional legislation and the willingness on the part of the government to confront gambling and casino interests that have blocked this,” he said. “Newspaper owners have never gotten together to lobby for this because they have always been quite profitable. Those days are behind us.”

I tracked down Zuckerman in Jerusalem on Tuesday to ask him about it. “Newspapers are so critical for public dialogue and holding public officials responsible,” he told me. “And who's going to be able to afford original reporting in the next five years? Very, very few.”

Zuckerman goes on to point out that British newspapers make big bucks by sponsoring betting games. I suppose we could also consider Page 3 girls.

I'm all for getting creative, but this may be a stretch.

Could "The Independent Newspaper Serving Iowa's Technology Corridor" ever become "The Independent Newspaper With The Hottest Action This Side of Vegas?"

Maybe my blog could become "24-Hour Dorman's Stone-Cold, Lead-Pipe NFL and College Football Locks."

I'm betting that's unlikely. You wanna piece of that action?