This fall, NAA asked more than 20 digital media and newspaper industry leaders to write perspectives on what the industry will look like in the future. A preview of this project, with three of the perspectives (and a list of those to come), is available now at www.naa.org/blog/futureofnewspapers. NAA will put all 20+ perspectives into a blog format with commenting functionality in the coming weeks, and we look forward to the conversation.

The following is the introduction, by Randy Bennett, to NAA's Imagining the Future of Newspapers project.

The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.  -- Linus Pauling

The newspaper industry is in the midst of a wrenching period of transition. As business models, consumer and advertiser behavior and the competitive landscape transform, newspaper companies search for long-term clarity through the near-term fog.

Some observers are mired in the haze, predicting the imminent demise of the local newspaper franchise. But other more thoughtful visionaries see brighter days ahead, IF newspapers embrace market trends and re-think product, marketing and organizational strategies.

As futurist Paul Saffo described it:

Without a doubt an old order is dying, but a larger, more complex and vital new order is emerging from the wreckage. Riding the waves of change is unnerving, but this is also a privileged moment for not every generation has the opportunity to shape the future in such fundamental ways as we are collectively shaping the future today.

We asked 22 of some of the more insightful thinkers we know to provide their perspectives on how newspapers can shape their own future. Some are currently employed by newspapers, but most are outside observers (analysts, futurists, academics, customers, etc.) without a vested interest in the success or failure of new business or journalistic approaches.

There were no restrictions. All were free to write on any aspect of the newspaper business and offer up positive or negative prognoses. The goal: stimulate ideas and discussions about the newspaper franchise 5 – 10 years from now.

Some perspectives are not new – re-organizing newsrooms, embracing user-generated content – and some are potentially transformative. They all decry “incrementalism” and urge bold action to find new business and organizational models. And most implore newspaper companies to become much more customer-centric in product development and service.

Among the common themes that flow through many of the commentaries:

1. Newspapers need to be more aggressive in embracing change. As one writer eloquently phrased it: “Business is decelerating faster than our efforts to transform the organization. Newspapers must stem declines and ramp up pace of change.”
2. Success will be driven by our ability to create bolder, more differentiated content (including a laser focus on local) delivered over multiple media formats for specific audience segments. (And, subsequently, better connecting advertisers with the audiences they desire.)
3. The organizational structure will have to be fundamentally re-thought, perhaps organized around customer segments rather than products or functional areas. As a result, newspapers will have to think more like consumer packaged goods companies in managing their brands.
4. Newsrooms will have to transform culturally and more aggressively leverage content creation, packaging and storytelling capabilities across media platforms. Many contributors commented on the disappearance of traditional newsroom roles and the emergence of new ones.
5. Newspapers will have to define themselves as portals of local information, aggregating content (regardless of its origin) and connecting citizens/consumers with guidance and each other. That will mean embracing local bloggers, even traditional competitors, to become the most comprehensive source of community content.
6. And finally, many urged newspapers to consider new metrics by which they evaluate the franchise -- financial metrics(growth vs. margin) as well as audience metrics (total and segmented reach vs. circulation or readership).

All of the perspectives will be available on the Imagining the Future of Newspapers blog in early November, created to provide others with an opportunity to comment and react. In addition, we’re packaging all of the pieces together in a report, an homage to the continued power of print, which will be available soon.

    - Randy Bennett, Vice President, New Business & Audience Development, NAA