What will the future be for newspapers? How do we get there? And what practical changes can we make as soon as tomorrow?

Those were the questions that led to The Spokesman-Review's "Newsroom of the Future" project, a three-month examination into the present and future of American newspaper journalism.

A lot of journalists are in the business of prognosticating these days, and you can now add my name to the list with the completion of this report, which was delivered to editors today.

You can download the report at: 147 Kb PDF

Will newspapers survive? Yes, but there likely will be fewer of them and they'll look much different than they do today. They may not publish every day and they'll contain mostly context and analysis. All the world's breaking news will be online.

Elements you're used to seeing - sports agate and stock listings, for instance - will all be online. Comic strips may even become animated.

Some newspapers will go completely to the Web, eliminating paper and ink and a costly and outdated delivery system. Others will have Web sites so deep and rich with content that the actual newspaper will be the niche supplement, and not the other way around.

Multimedia will be everywhere. Videos, slide shows, podcasts, vodcasts. There will come a time when you won't be able to distinguish a print reporter from a TV reporter by the equipment they carry; they'll both be lugging around videocameras.

There may even come a time when your computer will sense your boredom with a story and remove it from your screen before you finish reading it.

The next 10 years will bring profound changes to the newspaper industry, not only because of new technology but because of the changing way we communicate.

As Time magazine noted in its Person of the Year coverage: You, me, average citizens everywhere - we all control the Information Age.

For newspapers that means a seismic shift in the way we interact with our readers. Whether newspapers survive on paper or migrate toward electronic ink, our relationship with readers will have to change. The popularity of citizen-generated content - and the ease of producing it -means that citizens will no longer allow newspapers to stand above their communities; we'll have to work from within them. We will have to see readers as information partners.

That, then, is the ultimate prediction from this report: The Newsroom of the Future will be interactive. And everything we do from here on out - from adding video to niche publications to continuous breaking news desks to foreign-language Web sites - will all be done in the name of relationship-building AND journalism. We will not 'do technology' because it's there; we will do it because it makes better journalism.

I honestly can't think of a better time to be a journalist than right now, despite all the "sky is falling" manifestos that say YouTube and Craigslist will eat our lunch and drive us out of business.

I commend Spokesman-Review editors for deciding to embrace the uncertainty of our times rather than fear it. When Editor Steve Smith asked me in the fall of 2006 to step away from my regular job as senior editor for local news to go on a three-month fact-finding mission, it was with the charge that I return with some proposals for how we might adapt our workflow and culture. You'll find those proposals in this report.

There are a variety of recommendations, from restructuring our assignment desk to building Web sites that showcase citizen content. The bulk of the report focuses on how to change from a print-centric culture to a multiplatform culture where we deliver news and information whenever and however people want it.

The good news is that - after three months, three cross-country trips and dozens of interviews - The Spokesman-Review is looking pretty good. We're farther along than many papers and not too far behind the rest. We have a rich history of engagement with readers; we have reporting and editing expertise; we have an award-winning Web site of original content; we have a culture that supports creativity and we have a willingness to improve our craft.

I predict some profound changes in the way we do our work this year, but I also predict it will be to the good for readers.

When we started this project in September, we knew we wanted it to be interactive, which is how this self-described technology curmudgeon ended up writing a blog in the first place. We've heard from readers and people within the newspaper industry. The feedback has been welcome. We'll keep the blog running as we implement some of these proposals.

This Newsroom of the Future report is not really meant to be a prescription for The Spokesman-Review or any other newspaper. The true value of the report rests in the questions it raises; the success of the project will be determined by our collective ability to keep a conversation about innovation going.

Carla,

I've begun to read your findings one chunk at a time, beginning with the introduction. It's fascinating yet not too surprising but also scary for us codgers who aren't privy to all the constantly-changing technology.

I guess at this point, I'm wondering how most technology-impaired readers are going to keep up, not only with learning how to use the technology but also purchasing whatever is required to remain current. Seems like quite a few could fall through the seams and feel left out.

I look forward to reading more. Thanks for your work.
Marianne

Thank YOU for reading.

You raise a good point about the usability and affordability of technology.

As Colin Maclay, managing director for The Berkman Center for Internet & Society, points out: the barriers to entry for current technology are coming down, which is what's driving this desire to self-create content.

Presumably, current technology will only get easier to use and - like the early expensive calculators - cheaper to buy.

And like TVs, eventually everyone will own a computer. Beyond that, I think it's still up to individual choice how much MORE technology you want. I personally think it'll be a while until iPods and other gadgets are as commonplace as computers.

Another interesting comment in the report is from MIT researcher Barbara Barry, who said she's not sure how widespread this Internet Nation really is. Most people are still NOT online.

Which leaves newspapers. That's why I believe they'll be relevant for a long time to come.

I'm looking forward to reading the report. I'd hate to see newspapers go the way of bone inscriptions in favor of the Internet, which seems so ephemeral in comparison.

Carla,

I am reading your report with great interest. There is something for everybody in here, including those of us over on the ''dark side'' of television! We still have a lot to learn regarding everything from citizen journalism to being more aggressive on the air and on-line--while maintaining credibility and responsibility. Thanks for all of your hard work.