Gannett's plan for engagement: still room for institutional opinion, but now reader response is immediate and interactive.

I didn't take off my editorial writer's hat last fall when I was introduced to Gannett's new Local Information Center concept. After all, the seven targeted areas included creation of Community Conversation Desks, which were to be led by editorial page staffs.

What does this mean for the future of editorial pages? Is the institutional voice being marginalized? Those were among my initial concerns as I sat with a half-dozen Gannett editorial page editors invited to join the company's top news editors to learn how we can connect better with our readers to make our local reports deeper and more relevant.

Nearly a year later, I'm convinced that we're on the right path with our now fully operational Rochester Information Center.

And by the way, the 2006 NCEW Conference helped allay many of my initial fears. Just a week after the Pittsburgh conference, which focused on helping editorial pages keep up with new technology, the local information center concept was rolled out.

When I left the Gannett editors meeting in McLean, Virginia, I was convinced the newspaper industry, which is losing circulation at an unprecedented rate, must respond to a morphing media landscape.

At least, here was a plan to get back in the game.

The overall plan focuses on local news, public service, data, multimedia and digital, custom publications, and community conversation.

As editorial page editor, I'm responsible for leading the community conversation component. Here at the Democrat and Chronicle we're building on the editorial pages' solid credentials as a respected source and facilitator of opinion. We receive more than sixteen thousand letters to the editor and nine thousand locally written essays annually.

Since the formal launch of the Rochester Information Center on January 1, we've started connecting with readers and our online audience as never before.

In the editorial page department, our online audience can now participate in "StoryChat" on daily editorials and essays. We also started an editorial board blog and a political blog that are growing in popularity, based on page views.

On our op-ed page, we started a new feature, "Friday Faceoff," which takes a timely, hot topic and lets two readers who disagree go at it in print and in online audio clips.

Editorial writers are now encouraged to routinely "think multimedia" One writer is currently developing a weekly multimedia feature that will involve readers.

But don't think that community conversation is limited to the opinion section.

Cynthia Benjamin, brought aboard as community conversation editor last January, is leading the charge throughout the Rochester Information Center. She is the point person for a smorgasbord of features created to engage our fast-growing online audience. They include everything from reader-submitted photo galleries on special moments of life such as proms and weddings, to reader forums and chats on breaking news and top news stories.

Cynthia also supervises twenty-four citizen bloggers who represent the city and surrounding Rochester suburbs.

"Community Conversation is immediate" said Benjamin. "When something moves a reader, they no longer have to wait to respond. They can instantly share what they think online by posting in blogs or joining our twenty-four-hour discussion forums."

In late June, for instance, the Rochester region was rocked by the deaths of five recent high school graduates who were instantly killed in an automobile accident. Not only did the first-day story about the sudden deaths set a new record of more than one million page views, but an unprecedented number of readers participated in online discussions about the tragedy.

Sadly, that story also brought to the surface the downside of community conversation--people who misuse the process. But it's been our experience that they're in the minority. Our monitoring process, which also depends on help from the online audience, is working well.

Reporters are required to follow online conversations attached to their stories and report any problems. Readers also have been helpful. They can simply click a "report abuse" button attached to StoryChat.

In the case of the fatal crash, editors quickly moved in to take down chats that were accusatory or insensitive. We then posted an advisory that urged discussion participants to limit their comments to tributes to the victims. Most readily complied.

In other cases, we've taken down comments that were racially inflammatory, and just generally offensive. We've also had our share of pornographic postings, which readers quickly alert us to.

As a condition of participation in our online conversations, readers must accept our terms of service, which make clear that violators can be banned from the Website. We don't hesitate to exercise this option when there is a blatant violation.

Interestingly, I was contacted a few weeks ago by Mike Benard, a former Kodak executive, who cited striking parallels between the transformation underway at the onetime photo giant and the one we're witnessing in the news business

"The Democrat and Chronicle is taking the initiative rather than waiting for the order" said Benard, Kodak's former director of communications and public affairs.

We haven't found the remedy for our ailing industry, but we're working hard to find a cure.

EDITOR'S NOTE: People have been talking about Gannett's Local Information Center. Here, one Gannett editor discusses how it has won him over.

James F. Lawrence is editorial page editor at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York: Email: jlawrenc@ democratandchronicle.com