Tough Times for Alternative Weeklies: What happens to them when the traditional papers cease publishing?

While most of the attention to the problems of print journalism have focused on daily newspapers, things have not been going so well for alternative weeklies.

Check out the Boston Globe's: "The weekly battle: Alternative papers, like big dailies, cut back as ad sales slip."

Here's the thing: what happens to alternative papers when the papers they serve as an alternative to cease publishing?

It means alternative papers need to find a new alternative. They're going to have to shift online, which raises a question: who are they serving as an alternative too? The vast majority of blogs could be classified as alternative, I'd think.

So once they're online-only, these outlets will need to redefine their approach, their goals, and their alternative-ness.