The new leader of MediaNews Group, John Paton, declared in San Francisco on Monday that the print business model of newspapers is “irretrievably” broken. This report in MNG’s Mercury News says the company is embracing the new age of news gathering by relying more on user-generated content. He also said that the company will become more active as a venture capitalist by acquiring tech companies. The story says that Digital First, the company that controls MNG and the Journal Register Co., has about $1.4 billion in annual revenue, with 9% of that, or $130 million, from digital. He said digital advertising is enough to cover the newsgathering costs of the Journal Register’s 18 papers. He said the same is true for MNG’s Denver Post.