Former Mercury News columnist Dan Gillmor writes on his Bayosphere blog that Yahoo should buy the Merc and turn the Bay Area into a “living laboratory of tomorrow’s journalism.” Gillmor points out that a Yahoo board member is supermarket magnate and Democrat fundraiser Ron Burkle, who has agreed to bankroll a union bid to buy the Merc. Gillmor says, “Certainly, if Yahoo really means to be a serious player in journalism, it could do a lot worse — way, way, way worse — than to employ the still terrific (if vastly smaller than it was) editorial staff of the Mercury News along with the already talented journalists who work at the company.”