"I'd like it to be my idea."

If I have vomit forth one prediction for 2006, it's that the trend of increased media interactivity will continue. Consider our local paper, which knows that more and more users get their news in digital form, and consequently has made two changes to bring readers back.

The first is a bite-sized chunk of headlines in the classifieds called "News in 5." (Why the classifieds? Is that where "time-impoverished" readers head first? Not in my experience.)

The second involves the Web:

Also beginning today is Ask the Editors. This feature at www.theolympian.com gives you direct access to newsroom editors. If you have a question about articles, photographs or newsroom operations, follow the link and send us your question. A team of editors has been designated to find the answer for you and publish it at Ask the Editors.

Please go to www.theolympian.com/asktheeditors to check it out and let us know what you think. We’d also like to hear what you think about News in 5 and how we can make it more useful for you.

Notice what's also sitting at the top of the page: a "comments" button, where you, with your stinky armpit opinion, can join the conversation. How very... bloggish.

For the longest time newspapers have treated bloggers like the annoying little kid in Shane, latecomers who don't understand the old ways, even though the old ways are dead and gone. But now the bad guys are in ambush at the saloon, and the pestering tyke will be the one who saves Shane from death. It's a metaphor. Figure it out for yourself.