The other day, a huge group of children came through the newsroom on a tour of the paper. They were cute kids, probably third or fourth grade, and seemed to actually be interested in what was going on (which is a big change from the high school students who often come through).

One of the kids, while learning how the newspaper works, had this question: “Where would the internet get news if there weren’t any newspapers?”

The question is so perfect you have to wonder if he was coached. Because what people who are celebrating the death of newspapers don’t seem to get is this: News doesn’t just fall off a conveyor belt onto the Web. Trained, qualified professionals provide the news that you read on Google and Digg, and bloggers wouldn’t have anything to comment on without news agencies.

Plus, you need the power of newspapers, magazines and TV networks to really dig into the news. These companies have resources that individuals can’t match, and the quality of the news would quickly slide downhill without them.