My colleagues and anyone with a passion for good ol’ fashioned newspapers have spent the last couple years in deep mourning. These are tough times - and they may just get tougher. But I’m an optimist by nature. I believe all we really need is a leader who can inspire the masses and remind the public just how important we are. We need Lou Grant. I’m not talking about the Lou Grant who was the grouchy, but lovable cutup on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” I’m talking about the grouchy, but lovable leading man on “Lou Grant,” who ran the Los Angeles Tribune with an ethical, dramatic fist.

“Grant” wasn’t terribly accurate - but -gosh - was it inspiring stuff. Movies have long taken advantage of hyping the role of reporter and turning him or her into a leading man. “State of Play” (originally a BBC mini-series) and “The Soloist” are just the two most recent examples. But TV has rarely gone the same route. It seems perfectly natural to me to revolve a drama around a big-city paper (personally, I’d set in the ’70s, where newsrooms were filled with more booze and cigarette smoke than the offices at “Mad Men” and stories were done on the run rather than on the Internet). Sure, you’d have to heighten the action - but doesn’t every cop and medical show? Instead, TV journalists tend to be lightweight characters on sitcoms, offering them jobs that explain why they can spend so much time at home. I’m thinking of “Perfect Strangers,” “Eight is Enough,” “Dave’s World,” “The Odd Couple,” Sex and the City.”

I’ll spare you the rest.

When have newspapers been taken seriously? Well, “The Wire” offered a penetrating, brilliant take on the industry in its final season -but journalists didn’t come across as particularly heroic. I do remember “New York News” with MTM, but it didnt’ last very long and was a bit too soapy.

The best example I can think of? MTV’s “The Paper.” Yep, the once-upon-a-time music channel did a nice job of showing the behind-the-scenes politics of a high-school rag. Still, not nearly good enough in these trying times.

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