Fleet Street faces day of reckoning as digital push comes up short

London

A BRITISH tabloid headline about the industry itself might read something like this: "Shock Fleet Street Break-up: Papers Jilted for Digital Mistress".

Britain's daily press - with its saucy headlines and coverage that ranges from lurid exposes of politicians' peccadilloes to sober analyses of their policies - has long weathered the digital onslaught that has decimated the business elsewhere. Two decades into the web era, Britain supports at least 10 print titles with national reach.

The day of reckoning is at hand as digital revenue fails to make up for declines in print advertising, and cellphones - with even lower ad …