-- President Barack Obama in his inaugural address, Jan. 20, 2009

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There is no shortage of gloomy economic news out there, but it's an especially tough time in the newspaper business. Rising costs, sharply declining ad revenue in the face of an ongoing recession and fundamental changes in the way people get information have created a "perfect storm" for those of us in print journalism.

Recent headlines bear this out: The Tribune Co., owner of The (Baltimore) Sun, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. Gannett Co., which has attempted to reduce costs through employee buyouts and layoffs, instituted one-week, unpaid furloughs for most of its full-time U.S. workers to avoid further staff reductions. The New York Times and the Boston Globe have pruned their newsroom staff. The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press are cutting back home delivery to three days a week. More than 100 Washington Post reporters, editors and photographers took early retirement packages last year. Even The Frederick News-Post eliminated 15 positions in November.

I know firsthand the pain such change can bring. My previous employer, a daily newspaper in Arizona, has cut its print production to four days a week, eliminated distribution to many areas and reduced its work force by more than 40 percent.

So why do I have hope?

President Barack Obama.

More precisely, the election and inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Don't misunderstand. I don't think the new president or his policies are going to make every newspaper in the country viable. But the increases in newspaper sales that resulted from these events, fleeting though they may be, give me hope.

USA Today printed 3 million copies Wednesday -- 700,000 more than usual -- and reported sellouts in some locations. The Washington Post, which raised its single-copy price from 75 cents to $2 for Tuesday and Wednesday, estimated it sold 95 percent of the 1.55 million newspapers it printed on Inauguration Day, including an afternoon "extra" edition, and printed 1.8 million papers Wednesday. (I've been told that people were lining up to buy the newspaper the day after Obama was elected; the company may not have anticipated such demand.) The Los Angeles Times, which sells about 740,000 papers each weekday, sold out its initial printing and added 350,000 copies to Wednesday's press run. The Washington Times said it sold 286,000 papers Tuesday, triple the usual number.

Again, don't misunderstand. The election and inauguration of the first African-American president of the United States are indeed historic, one-time events. There is only one first time.

My point is that Obama has inspired more people, especially young people, to pay attention to the world around them and serve their communities than any politician in recent memory, including former President Bill Clinton. Obama has said that public service will be a "central cause" of his presidency.

And people who are paying attention, who are engaged in the community, are potential readers, potential consumers of information. If newspapers give these consumers complete, accurate and useful information -- information they can't get anywhere else -- they will make the time to read newspapers.

Pooh-pooh it if you like as the "wrong kind" of attention: political awareness as fashion, the politician as celebrity. Newspapers should make the most of this opportunity, of this moment, if you will.

But moments don't last forever. Newspapers have a small window of opportunity to get the attention of the community by making their print editions and websites relevant and useful to potential readers.

To be sure, having customers who are interested in your product isn't enough. The economic obstacles are daunting. Newspapers are supported by advertising, and for things to get better for newspapers, conditions will have to improve for their advertisers and customers.

It has become a cliche to say that opportunity and crisis are intertwined, but opportunity and crisis is the state of the newspaper industry today. And so, as an American and a journalist, I join President Barack Obama in choosing hope over fear.

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Information for this column came from The Associated Press, Editor & Publisher and The Washington Post.

--Terence Walsh is assistant news editor of The Frederick News-Post.