Predicting the future is difficult, probably more so than keeping people reading today.

The different challenges among metro and smaller town dailies and community weeklies are topics of interest, but there are signs that separation by pages and publication days are diminishing.

There is an understanding that the Tennessee Press Association, which over the years grew up as a family-driven organization, has changed. Family owners have given way to corporate owners, many of whom are not domiciled in Tennessee.

A perfect storm hit in 2009, but there were signs for several years that storm clouds were forming. A trimming of the sails was required regardless of size or ownership.

There is a new lexicon in the newspaper industry. National newspaper associations dropped the word “newspaper,” trimmed back mission and people, canceled conventions and embraced the computer-delivered webinar.

Another newspaper association opened its doors to those who had been outcasts in the past. Creeping onto the list of the accepted were those who distribute products for free.

The economic tsunami turned the industry on its head, but there are times when a shake-out is not all bad.

Debates are ongoing over online content either free or paid. Finding middle ground in the opening volleys of the online discussion resembled the lock-down that has plagued the Congress for years on end.

Long-established revenue lines withered from the heat of recession, and those who claimed the newspaper Internet operations were nothing more than places for people to chase classified ads were left wondering what went wrong.

Now there are points of indecision, whether to declare print dead and push customers to buy the latest invention to read news on the run, at work or wherever except via ink on paper. The newspaper-next approach raises the question of whether in the haste to cut waste (so to speak), we are losing the customer along the way.

This is the year that confronted the Tennessee Press Association and its member publications.

There were and are challenges, but working through them is worth the time and commitment.

At the University of Tennessee, the number of students enrolled in journalism and electronic media is up this year and expected to be even higher the next. The faculty may not understand why, but there is something those young people must know that we need to learn.

We should monitor their senior seminar at UT and listen to these expectant journalists share how they believe news will be delivered. They might help us uncover a few keys to unlock the next mechanism for broad news dissemination. We also might learn that the pronouncement of the demise of newspapers is somewhat premature.

The newsroom of the future may be a mere shadow of the current setup. A handful of editors, a few photographers and designers, and specialty reporters for investigative and enterprise pieces

may be the full-time staff. The remainder of the content from city hall to the school

board may come from contracted journalists, who provide 24-hour service in print, online and however else.

But some things will be consistent:

* Writing. There is where the storytelling begins.

* Multi-tasking. Once the story takes shape, the slicing across multiple platforms occurs.

* Inquisitiveness. In every journalist is the burning desire to know why, and then more.

This year opened eyes to look past the immediate, work through rough patches and think broadly about the future.

That is the challenge for the Tennessee Press Association and for everyone who is involved in disseminating news and information.

Tom Griscom is completing his term as president of the Tennessee Press Association. To reach him, call (423) 757-6472 or e-mail tgriscom@timesfreepress.com.