Jim Brady, vice president and executive editor of washingtonpost.com (interview with Brady here), said newspapers must build online communities of readers.

“We're in a battle every day for traffic,” he said. "People are very, very sporadic on how they use the Web and the sites they go to."

Of the Post’s 80 blogs, sports and religion blogs have proved to very popular.

Jennifer Carroll, vice president of new media for the newspaper division of Gannett Co. Inc (interview with Carroll here), described the importance of online databases.

With the local emphasis of its Information Centers, Gannett has launched many hyperlocal online services across its newspapers. The News-Press of Fort Myers provides a database of public records from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, so users can find out who specifically registered for aide being hit by hurricanes. A database on the website of the Asbury Park Press enables readers to find out how much neighbors paid for their home.

"They're not coming just to look at headlines and leave," said Carroll. "They're coming to search and learn through you in ways that nobody else can do."

Blogs and databases: those are two steps newspapers can easily take to build readership loyalty.

Source: Yahoo News / Associated Press