If Andy Rooney covered the publication printing world, even his massive eyebrows would be edging skyward.

On the one hand, five major magazines just announced a $90 million campaign to make advertisers, shareholders, and industry influencers reconsider the importance of print. “A lot of us sat back for way too long and listened to all this abuse and said nothing about it,” Jann Wenner told the Wall Street Journal.

On the other hand, most publication printers probably are all too familiar with this scenario:

“It’s a buyer’s market,” Jodi Rochford, director of collateral products for Canon Communications told Media Business. “[Plants] will lowball to get work in, even if they’re barely covering costs.”

RR Donnelley recently announced it will acquire Bowne & Co. in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $481 million. It’s a logical move according to industry pundit Bob Rosen (Pittstown, NJ).

“For a change in the world of deals, [this one] really does meet many strategic objectives. The financial printing business has been running a long-term going-out-of-business sale for many years,” says Rosen. “This goes back to the moment when law firms and corporate clients took control of the word processing files, thereby eliminating the magical mystery of overnight typesetting. With that, the financial printers’ pricing opportunities began evaporating. And after the loss of premium pricing came the increasing use of electronically-filed documents, further reducing demand.”

Rosen adds that financial printer consolidation not only logical, but inevitable: “The only surprise is why it’s taken so long,” he says. “The end-game is obvious. The only open question is how long it takes to play out.”

The RR Donnelley announcement came just weeks after Quad and World Color announced their plans.

In the Daily Finance Tom Taulli says the Quad/Graphics and World Color merger makes a lot of sense, given the “highly fragmented” industry is struggling to cope with challenges from new media, a faltering economy and severe overcapacity.

“But perhaps the most important part of the deal is the cost savings,” says Taulli. “Within the next two years, the forecast is for annual savings of $225 million. . .adjusted EBITDA margins are expected to reach 17%.”

Consultant Steven Fryetold Media Business: “I think the merger is brilliant because the big three printers are fighting over a market that doesn’t exist anymore, which is the real large-run offset market. There’s too much hardware out there, too much dinosaur equipment.” The real winners predicts Frye, will be Fry Communications and Brown Printing. “[These are] two solid printers that can go head-to-head against the bigger guys. The catalog market has never heard of Fry, but that will now likely change. They all can print great magazines. It’s the distribution aspect that is critical to be a good printer.”

In a separate Media Business article, William Lufkin, president of paper and print purchasing consultant Lufkin Strategic Procurement, noted that some publishing firms’ purchasing policies require them to work with more than one vendor. Therefore, RR Donnelley and Brown could benefit from Quad/World coming together.

Now, if Andy Rooney did cover the publication world, he’d really love these dueling headlines: Print Magazine Advertising to Grow in 2010 Despite Popularity of Online declared FOLIO magazine. A subhead quietly added: “For first time, however, spending on digital expected to outpace print.” Min Online, covering the same Outsell survey data put it this way: Digital Marketing Spend to Overtake Print This Year.

If anyone wants me, I’ll be braiding my eyebrows.