The evolution of the newspaper business takes a significant step forward with plans announced by the editors of North Carolina’s News & Record. The printed paper itself—still a profitable venture—won’t change, but the paper’s Web site is set for an overhaul that will reflect the increasing importance of participatory journalism. The site will feature…

...ways for readers to discuss issues online, more interaction between readers and reporters, and in a dramatic break from a newspaper’s gatekeeper role, even opportunities for readers to submit stories of their own for Web publication.

According to an item at MSNBC, the move is designed to help yank the paper out of a funk characterized by flat subscription rates, diminished credibility, and a failure to appeal to younger readers.

As evidence that the paper is serious about this shift, the plans have been articulated on the blogs of editors John Robinson and Lex Alexander.

The News & Record is taking these ideas further than any other daily, according to the experts quoted in the MSNBC article, including participatory journalism advocate Dan Gillmor, who says, ““I don’t think anyone is proposing to be quite as reader-centric in a bottom-up way as they say they’re going to do.”