How can we help you in your life? We want — and need — to know

"Because something is happening here, but you don't know what it is. Do you, Mister Jones?"

Readers of a certain age might remember that refrain from Bob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man." I used it as the title for a college term paper in 1968. The class was about the future of the news media and the professor was named Jones. Almost 40 years later, I feel like I'm Mr. Jones. The future of the news media has never been more uncertain, and whatever is happening will affect journalists (me) and the public (you) profoundly.

Consider these a sample of observations gleaned from "Newspapers Next," a project of the American Press Institute (API), a training center for the news industry and journalism educators:

"We find the evidence overwhelming: This is change on the grand scale, driven by a fundamental transformation in the connection between humans and information. The social impact is likely to rival the advent of movable type and mass literacy."

"The trigger is technological, but the impact is behavioral. As individuals respond to the infinite range of choices available to them, this will reshape the media landscape and, over time, society itself."

"Many people in the newspaper industry see grave danger ahead for newspapers in fulfilling their traditional civic mission as a maintainer of an informed citizenry, facilitator of civic dialogue and watchdog on institutions.

"Under the triple whammy of shrinking newspaper readership, declining profit margins and reductions in staffing, the signs are alarming. With less than half of the public regularly using newspapers, a large question looms: How will society function if the quality, quantity and public impact of meaningful journalism are not sustained?"

I put all of those comments under the category "You're not Chicken Little if the sky really is falling."

The Newspaper Next, or N2, report bills itself as a blueprint for transformation. It makes the case that newspapers can compete in the new era "but not without dramatic changes in the way they think, the strategies they adopt and the innovation processes they use."

The Seattle Times contracted with API to train a large team of our people in the methods developed by N2. Here is what I felt was the most important message:

"To find their way amid these bewildering changes, media companies must shift their focus from products and services to the lives of customers."

The central question the newspaper must answer is, "What indispensable roles can we play in the lives of consumers and businesses?"

The purpose of this column is to invite you to join our N2 thinking — how we can serve you better and how you can help us survive.

The report says the challenge requires innovation beyond the pages of the newspaper because, "the public is migrating away from us, happily discovering new freedoms, opportunities and choices in a new world of infinite information."

And it says, "People will want many things that do not exist yet — new kinds of information, new tools and services, new experiences, new ways to get things done."

The N2 methodology doesn't expect you to be able to tell us what those new things are. Instead, it asks you to tell us what you are trying to get done in life and where you are frustrated.

N2 calls this approach to identify wants and needs as "jobs to be done."

"Ted Levitt, the guru of marketing at the Harvard Business School a generation ago, was famous for reminding his students that customers do not really want quarter-inch drills. They want quarter-inch holes," the report says. "Focus on the holes, not the drills."

The Times will try a variety of ways to learn what jobs readers and advertisers are trying to get done, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask you to offer your thoughts. The N2 report acknowledges that sometimes people can't readily articulate the problems they face in their lives.

You might find it helps to discuss this with family or friends. Bring it up at your book club, preschool co-op or any other networks in your life. Don't worry about how to solve the problems, just identify them and share your thoughts with us.

If your group would like to convene a conversation with someone from The Times, let me know.

Here are some sample "jobs" mentioned in the N2 report:

• Help me make better decisions that increase my value as a parent, employee, student, etc.

• Give me enjoyment, amusement or keep me from boredom.

• Connect me with people who share my interests or views.

• Help me get action on things that matter to me.

• Give me information that will give me a material benefit, such as making or saving money or time.

As you think about this, keep in mind some other Bob Dylan lyrics that capture how many of us feel these day:

"Come gather 'round people wherever you roam, and admit that the waters around you have grown, and accept it that soon you'll drenched to the bone.

"If your time to you is worth savin', then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone. For the times they are a-changin'."

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 e-mail mfancher@seattletimes.com.