Steve Outing's latest E&P column sounds a theme that resonates with Newspaper Next 2.0 and should be required reading for everyone who's trying to figure out the future of newspaper companies.

His headline says, "Newspapers First Need to Redefine 'News' to Move Forward Online." Redefine it how? By realizing that, for consumers, the "micropersonal" is a very important part of the news they want and need.

Providing social networking tools enabling local people to stay in touch with their friends is a perfect fit with the core message of Newspaper Next 2.0: There are huge opportunities in local communities for newspaper companies beyond the traditional boundaries of news.

Newspaper companies are trying hard to create new growth, but many have trouble grasping that this will be virtually impossible to achieve with news alone. The fact is, to continue providing the kind of newsgathering that communities need, they'll have to expand far beyond news to support it.

If you have doubts about this fundamental fact, check out this piece by Frederic Filloux, an editor for the Norwegian group Schibsted, and Jean Louis Gassee, a partner for Allegis Capital in Palo Alto, CA. It lays out the truth in black and white, showing why doing news online won't be enough to sustain our newsgathering operations.

it's a sobering read. But that's mainly because the authors see clearly what won't work, but they don't seem to see the vast areas of opportunity for new audiences and new revenues beyond news.

The biggest challenge facing virtually all newspaper companies right now is creating new revenue. Even among the most innovative companies -- those that are quickly diversifying their offerings and creating innovative new products and services for consumers -- the revenue performance often isn't as good as they hope.

That's why the Newspaper Next 2.0 report urges newspaper companies to redouble their focus on non-consumption among businesses, not just consumers. The revenue opportunities are huge, especially in two categories: small and medium enterprises that rarely advertise in newspapers, and larger businesses that have advertising objectives a newspaper can't meet very well. There's a lot of money in those two zones for newspaper companies that figure out how to meet these needs.

A new case study from NAA provides a great example of how to do it. Here, as so often before, the Bakersfield Californian is leading the way. You can download the excellent NAA report, written by Stacy Lynch.