One panel combined old and new media professionals, including Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor in chief of HuffingtonPost.com and Donald E. Graham, chief executive officer and chairman of The Washington Post Co. Though panelists came from “different worlds” of news, all agreed that newspaper editors need to improve access and contribution to online content.

“I believe in a hybrid future for newspapers,” said Huffington. “My passion is about … bringing together the best of the old with the best of the new.”

Huffington also believes that the best of the new can keep tabs on the old, as when bloggers pick up underreported stories that newspapers drop.

Barry Diller, chairman and chief executive of InterActiveCorp., stressed the importance of newspapers’ creating online content. "You can’t simply slap a print thing onto an online site and think there’s anything compelling happening," he said.

Panelists concurred that newspapers that use flash graphics, video, animation, and other online elements have the right idea of how to hold onto readers.

They also discussed the possibility of Slate magazine, owned by the WaPost, coming together with Huffington Post and Yahoo to host the first online presidential debate of 2008.

In another presentation, editors talked to their peers on how to hold onto morale through staff cuts and ownership changes.

“Keep your eye on the ball, and the ball is journalism,” said Boston Globe editor Marty Baron, whose paper faced 6% staff cuts last week. Others suggested using rapid staff changes to improve the newsroom or shift focus online.

For example, when the Detroit Free Press faced staff cuts, they increased funding for their internship program. Interns now devote time to online work and with the help of a copy editor provide the paper with original online content.

Source: American Society for Newspaper Editors