Newspapers have served as a primary information resource and a key watchdog against abuses of power by government and private interests since hacked-off Bay Staters threw British tea into Boston harbor.

But now they are on the bullet train to oblivion.

The most recent casualty was the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which had been printing for 146 years.

Two weeks before that, Denver’s Rocky Mountain News turned out the lights, and the Tucson Citizen is on life support.

At least these cities still have a daily, for now. Most observers believe it won’t be long before some major American cities have none at all.

The San Francisco Chronicle lost a $1 million per week in 2008.

The Chicago Tribune, LA Times, New Haven Register and Philadelphia Inquirer are all owned by companies in bankruptcy. Chicago’s Sun-Times and the Miami Herald are for sale and no one’s buying.

The major problem is collapsing ad revenue. It’s dropped 25% in the last 2 years, which is actually a steeper decline than that posted by America’s Big Three automakers over the same time period.

Craigslist and similar online sites have blown up a 2-century-old business model just like that.

The papers’ efforts to balance the books have led to draconian workforce reductions that compromise the final product. The LA Times’ news staff is half what it was a decade ago, for example. 

“I can’t imagine what civil society would be like (without newspapers),” Buzz Woolley told the New York Times. The San Diego businessman has been a long time critic of the city’s Union-Tribune, and now backs VoiceofSanDiego.org, an internet news site.

“I don’t want to imagine it. A huge amount of information would just never get out.”

By all accounts, Cerrie Burnell has the skills and make-up to be terrific in her new role has co-host for Cbeebies, a BBC children’s show aimed at kids 6 years old and under.

It’s just that Burnell was born with one hand, and the plainly visible disability has roiled some British parents who worry what impact the gestalt might have on their children.

BBC Spokesperson Katya Mira said the network has received at least 25 “official” complaints since Burnell joined the show in January, and that’s not counting dozens more negative comments posted in chat rooms and blogs.

One father complained for example that the hostess forced him to discuss disabilities with his child before he would have preferred.

Mira was quick to add that the BBC has “received 99 appreciations of (Burnell),” according to CNN.

Before joining Cbeebies, Burnell had worked as an actress for theater companies in Manchester, England and Brazil.

BBC’s January news release introducing Burnell did not mention her disability, although it was accompanied by a PR photo in which the right sleeve of her sweater was rolled up leaving the missing lower limb in plain sight.

Burnell has heard the criticism and remains unperturbed.

“It can only be a good thing that parents are using me as a chance to talk disability with their children. It just goes to show how important it is to have positive, disabled role models on CBeebies and television in general,” Burnell told CNN.

And BBC controller Michael Carrington voiced strong support for Burnell. “Cerrie is warm and natural and we think that, in time, all moms and dads and children will love her as much as we do,” he said.