I took some time off in November after my last trip to The Washington Post, the J-Lab at The University of Maryland, The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, and the Media Lab at MIT.

I'm now back in the office and faced with the enormous task of writing a final report that includes some proposals for changes we might want to consider for the news operation of The Spokesman-Review.

Although I've been blogging steadily (and can certainly steal liberally from all that writing), I haven't had much time to work on the actual final report. I suspect that parts of it will be effortless to piece together; other sections might not be because there is so much information to dissect.

As I've said from the beginning of this journey: there is no single correct answer. Each newsroom must make its own way based on its own news values, the tolerance of its readership, the tolerance of its ownership, and perhaps...its own sense of fearlessness.

Therefore, extracting a proposal for The Spokesman-Review from among all the wonderful ideas and theories I've experienced is not as easy as it sounds. And that's really only one part of the process. There is still hundreds of hours of conversation to be had internally with editors and reporters who have their own ideas to propose and, undoubtedly, dozens of questions.

(And if I've learned anything from this project, there is still plenty of conversation to be had with our readers. Newspapers haven't done nearly as much listening as we should have.)

While I set about the task of writing, I'm more or less back to my regular job as senior editor for local news. In a practical sense that means back to meetings, story editing, personnel decisions, strategic planning, speaking engagements _ all the everyday things that make this job so thrilling, but also make it difficult to find 'extra' time for anything else.

This week alone I'm presenting some initial thoughts from this project to newsroom managers during our annual planning retreat. I'm also talking about the future of newspapers with the Washington Ag Forestry Leadership group, which always conducts an annual media seminar.

And I've just been asked to talk about my project with editors of The Oregonian, which is embarking on a project about newsroom management and change.

The good news is that the future of newspapers seems to be THE topic these days, not just in newsrooms but in other quadrants of society as well. That makes the debate about these issues, and any changes that might result, much easier to have.

When I first started this project in September, I felt alone. I knew other papers were wrestling with change, but I wasn't aware of a similar research project that involved so much travel and interview time. Three months later, I'm happy to report that the newspaper industry IS actively considering its future, and while the S-R has been fairly unique in putting together this professional walkabout, others ARE asking similar questions and working on similar proposals.

This is clearly a really exciting time to be in journalism.

Stay tuned.

What a great project. I am eager to hear your conclusions and any printed discussion regarding papers' attitudes and plans for change.

As an online director for a Midwest newspaper, the changes that this industry holds are exciting, fun and even frightening at times.

Regardless, it is exciting to know that someone is chronicling the state of this ever-changing industry.

I too am excited to hear your results! I am a graduate student in Public Affairs at UW in Seattle. I've been following your progress very closely because I too am focusing on the changing newsroom and it's effect on public affairs and democracy. Thanks to Carla and the S-R for its efforts!