One of the last tech patents to be awarded in 2013 went to Google for a process that converts conversations between people into online comic strips. What's the punchline? You'll have to wait for the last panel to find out.

The first part of that statement would be bad enough. The second part would raise questions about the vitality and the relevance of that medium, altogether. But that seems to be what happened back in September, when the Newspaper Association of America quietly announced it was discontinuing its quarterly reporting of newspaper ad revenues, and would now only do it annually. Even though the NAA stated the move was intended to provide a "more comprehensive report" on newspaper revenues, it is a step in the wrong direction, and follows a pattern of increasing opacity among major media trade associations and …