Jim has had ink in his blood for a long time – 18 years in the news business, including work as a reporter and an editor at three newspapers. But over the past year and a half, Jim has helped guide Gannett Co.'s 85 local newspapers out of their print traditions and into a digital future. That involves much more than just trading offset plates for binary code. It means embracing the way the Internet works and delivering information in methods that engage communities – from blogging to podcasting, social bookmarking to social networking, crowdsourcing to the activity web, video to mobile applications. Jim works with newspapers across the nation on these and other initiatives, and he believes strongly that the future of local newspapers depends on becoming a hub for community conversation; blogging is one of the best ways to accomplish that mission.