1st assignment: help Times better connect with you

So, what does an editor at large actually do? That's my new title, and my first temptation was to answer, "Anything he wants."

After all, I proposed the title, wrote the job description and gave myself wide latitude to edit large. "Anything he wants" isn't too much to expect after 20 years as executive editor of The Seattle Times, right? Yeah, right. At a time when newspaper economics are dreadful and news budgets and staffs are being cut throughout the country. The scary reality is that journalism as it has been practiced throughout my career is endangered, posing a serious threat to participatory democracy.

Here's how the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a nonpartisan research organization, describes the predicament:

"The threat to newspapers now appears from nearly every indicator. From 1950 through 1999, for instance, newspaper revenue grew 7% a year. From 2000 through 2006, by contrast, it has grown by just 0.5%. Then in the first quarter of 2006, growth was even less: 0.35%.

"And though online ad revenues continue to soar, they currently account for just 5% of all newspaper company revenue. In addition to sluggish ad growth, newspapers are challenged with circulation declines, a skeptical Wall Street, ownership changes ... and perhaps most notably, adapting to the world of online news."

Given that bleak assessment, here's a more realistic answer to the "do" question: "Anything to earn his keep."

Fortunately, what I most want to do and what I can do that provides the greatest value to The Times are the same, and they very much involve you.

The four components of my new role are content, community, readership and future strategies. All speak to the viability of The Times as a values-based journalism and community-service family business.

The Times celebrated its 110th anniversary of Blethen-family ownership on Thursday. The family, the company and the newspaper are entering a profound generational transition, and the next few years will be pivotal to whether independent local ownership can endure here.

All newspapers are under economic siege. They must transition from traditional production and distribution methods to emerging technologies. They must reinvent their business models and broaden the portfolio of products they offer advertisers and readers. Most important, they must build stronger connections to their communities and be indispensable to the people they serve.

As a stand-alone entity, The Times is more at risk than diversified media conglomerates. As we reinvent ourselves, our margin for error is narrow. We don't have the resources to buy market share and we won't abandon journalism and community-service obligations just because they aren't immediately profitable.

This is where you and I come in.

My first assignment is to help The Times better connect with you, to learn what we can do that really matters to you. My role will be as a personal catalyst for connecting the newspaper with the community. It's my job to see that the news and information strategies of the future include your involvement.

I'll continue to write "Inside The Times," but the column's mission will be more about representing readers to the newspaper than the other way around. I won't try to be an ombudsman or critic, but I will strive for a mix of topics that more often flows from you.

I'll also facilitate a broader discussion about the press, using print, online and public forums. Much debate about the media today is counterproductive, little more than angry, partisan shouting across a great divide. The erosion of public confidence in the press deserves a more thoughtful conversation, and I'll do what I can to foster it.

The Times has traditionally separated news and editorial functions, with both the executive editor and editorial-page editor reporting to the publisher. Our philosophy is that the editorial pages should be a vibrant marketplace of ideas, anchored by a strong editorial voice, and the news pages should be fiercely independent, including being indifferent to the editorial positions taken by the newspaper.

That will continue, with David Boardman responsible for news and Jim Vesely for editorials. Like them, I report to the publisher, but I'm outside the decision-making structure for news or editorial content. This independence allows me to collaborate with Boardman, Vesely and their respective staffs in unprecedented ways, without eroding the separation of powers.

I am inspired with a great sense of purpose about the opportunities ahead, especially looking beyond the horizon at the future of journalism. It is a blessing to be able to do this free of the demands of daily newspaper leadership and a privilege to do it in service to you.

Inside The Times appears in the Sunday Seattle Times. If you have a comment on news coverage, write to Michael R. Fancher, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111, call 206-464-3310 or send e-mail to mfancher@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists