Have the London bombers inadvertently helped newspapers survive?

In the wake of the London bombings, New York authorities have shut down wireless and cell-phone systems serving the city’s tunnels.

While the investigation of last week’s subway and bus bombings in the English capital continue, findings from the Madrid bombing are conclusive: Those bombs, which killed almost 200 people, were detonated by cell phones.

With plans in Boston and other cities well underway to ‘unwire’ subways and give riders mobile and wireless access to entertainment, email, news, and more during their commutes, one has to ask if security will trump the free market. Will the authorities, in the name of safety and to deny terrorists at least one avenue of attack, keep the tunnels under our great cities dark and off the grid?

While consumers have been cheering the chance to access the grid from below ground, the cheers we’ll be hearing now will come from newsrooms across the land. Those 20 minutes underground may signify newspapers' only competitive advantage for the foreseeable future - or until the 'war on terror' is 'won.'

Talk about a 'captive audience.'