Gannett to change its papers' approach to reporting

According to this story in today's Washington Post Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper chain, "is radically changing the way its papers gather and present news by incorporating elements of reader-created 'citizen journalism,' mining online community discussions for stories and creating Internet databases of calendar listings and other non-news utilities."

We've already seen some of these changes taking place within the Oshkosh Northwestern, one of Gannett's many publications. So far, the changes seem to be registering for the better for Gannett's papers from a financial standpoint and readers seem to approve. Locally, there certainly are a fair number of active participants in the Oshkosh Northwestern's discussion boards. Kudos to Gannett for finding ways to incorporate new technology into old-fashioned reporting and publishing.