Riding the dinosaur into the sunset

I've often commented in passing that print newspapers are doomed, their days are numbered, in x years or months they will no longer be a general option.

That is certainly all true, but it doesn't stop this child of the first half of the 20th century from getting really excited when his name appears at the top of Page One of a nationally distributed newspaper like USA Today.

I've been writing a weekly column on Washington and Wall Street for the Gannett newspaper since April. It generally appears just online and only occasionally in the preciously small space allotted to the Money section in print.

So this kind of play for this week's column -- a Page One "refer" complete with byline and a spread on the first page of the Money section with my photo -- is and will remain a rare event.

I'm sure using a film with Leonardo DiCaprio as a foil, offering editors an opportunity to run his photo not once, but twice, contributed to getting this kind of play.

But it's also true -- and kudos to Dave Callaway for recognizing this -- that the issue of Wall Street regulation has moved out of the shadows. It also merits front-page coverage and editorials from the New York Times and attention from other popular media.

So it's gratifying that the years I spent toiling in the weeds of the SEC, Congress and the other regulatory agencies for United Communications Group has given me the opportunity to provide this big-picture perspective for a wider audience.

And, as it has been for my entire career as a journalist, it's very satisfying to see my name in the newspaper.