Time to check in on a prediction Wired magazine made (and I seconded) at the start of the year. Wired said a newspaper will combat revenue declines by ending print publication and going online-only. An opportunity for that change is passing by.

Scripps recently announced that afternoon newspapers The Cincinnati Post and The Kentucky Post will close before the year’s end. As their joint-operating agreements with Gannett come to an end, management had to decide whether to go online-only. They decided against it, blaming the prohibitive cost of hiring a sales force.

Well, that’s hooey.

Go online only, anyway. Cut traditional positions from the newsroom. Hire sales people. Get scrappy. The brand names are too strong to waste. Maybe there’s some Richie Rich out there who understands the power of a good brand and is willing to buy the name and give it a try.

One of the things Craigslist set out to prove is a lot can get done with a little staffing.

And wouldn’t the staff of the Posts savor the sweet revenge of using all those subversive online techniques to hit their former partners where it hurts financially? Give away classified ads. Become more user-submitted. Like I said, get scrappy.

No, it won’t be the Posts of old. It’s an opportunity for something new to be constructed on what’s left of something great.

Any takers, billionaires?

RELATED: Poll on Kentucky Post Web site asks whether newspapers have a future

UPDATE: Howard Owens points out that supermarket tabloid Weekly World News is closing up shop to go online only. Does that really count?