From May 5-9, New York Times assistant managing editor Susan Edgerley is answering questions from readers May 5-9 on nytimes.com, explaining how the paper is reinventing itself and integrating its newsroom.

Edgerley admitted that at this point the Times' website couldn't possibly fund the 1,275 staffers of the newsroom.

"But NYTimes.com is growing -- in readers and revenue -- at a much, much faster clip than the print paper. Is it our future? You bet."

Can the New York Times really claim it is 'reinventing' itself?

Yes, said Edgerley. "Journalists who used to worry about one deadline a day now have a deadline every minute. They are telling stories not only through words and pictures but also through audio and video and interactive maps and graphics."

Faced with news consumers' changing habits, the NYT's coverage - as for other newspapers - has arguably evolved. "Two years ago, we might have been hesitant to break a scoop on the Web," said Edgerley, "Now we put the story out there and figure out how to advance it for the next day's paper."

Considering the Web is the future for the NYT, one reader asked whether earning a print journalism degree was a waste of time. No, according to Edgerley. The art of storytelling remains.

But "I would be surprised if you don't find yourself picking up all different kinds of Web skills over the arc of your career, and that's good, too."

Source: New York Times