Phil Bronstein calls it "the best idea I ever had," but it never saw the light of day.

The idea concerned coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial in 1994 for the San Francisco Examiner (of which Bronstein was executive editor at the time): he wanted gonzo legend Hunter Thompson to file dispatches.

"We had an eight-hour negotiating session," Bronstein told MediaWatch's John Friedman. "Hunter wanted satellite dishes, an unlimited expense account and a suite or two at the Chateau Marmont. We were a dying afternoon paper with no budget."

The story serves to set up the fact that the Chronicle's recent death throes are nothing new to the industry. It's also the beginning of a fairly expansive look at the state of newspapers through the eyes of one of the local industry's most prominent voices. Bronstein has helmed both the Examiner ("We were a dying afternoon newspaper before newspapers thought about dying," he said) and the Chronicle, and firmly believes in the power of journalism.

Bronstein touches on the necessity to adopt social media practices, and when presented with the theory that the only way to save newspapers might be to shift their focus into hyper-local coverage, the editor agrees, if in vague terms. "We're doing that now," he told Friedman. "I think a pretty vibrant newsroom in San Francisco can survive."