Today's Fort Collins (Colo.) Weekly features an in-depth (2,600-word) article on the Gannett Information Center Initiative and what it means for both the Fort Collins Coloradoan daily newspaper and the paper's coverage area. (See the Nov. 6 Online Publishing Update for more on Gannett's initiative.)

The article is entirely different (but just as interesting) as the shorter Washington Post article cited in yesterday's Digital Edge Blog entry. The Washington Post article, "A Newspaper Chain Sees Its Future, And It's Online and Hyper-Local", followed one of the Fort Myers (Fla.) News Press "mojos" (mobile journalists) and outlined the changes at that Gannett-owned daily newspaper.

According to the Fort Collins Weekly article, Coloradoan editors say the trick to pulling off the Gannett initiative is in redefining newsroom roles to maximize everyone's productivity. This includes cross-training print-oriented reporters in multimedia journalism as well as redefining what is "news." The Coloradoan is taking a multi-phased approach to the changes and executives at the Coloradoan are still hammering out the details.

The Fort Collins Weekly article is worth reading. Reporter Greg Campbell covers not only the newsroom's perspective, but also perspectives from journalism professors and Gannett.

The one thing missing from both articles: the audience perspective. As the changes at Gannett-owned papers continue, I hope a reporter finds talks to a few dedicated print and online newspaper readers (and a few less-dedicated ones, too). We all could learn from hearing what they have to say.