In another part of my life I work with newsagencies doing it tough. Today there are more newsagencies on this ‘wtach list’ than ever. They in difficulty because of a combination of poor decisions; rising costs; and over / under supply. Wereas in the 1990s and before newsagents had almost guaranteed traffic and therefore a capacity to weatrher speed bumps, today they have no such capacity. Even the slightest challenge can be too much. Tougher and unequal competition, out of date supply/accounting practices and consumer relevance are the the challenges to be addressed and while nature can be left to take its course, those who value the newsagent channel would do well to hold crisis talks to understand the scope of the problem and consider whether they could influence a brighter future.