By TIM KOLODZIEJ / The New Castle (Pa.) News editor

Tim Kolodziej

Can a newspaper truly own its market?

I mean, is it possible that we could become our coverage area's TV station, radio station and newspaper of choice?

That's our plan in New Castle.

But that's not to say we're striving to reinvent the wheel. That may come in time, but right now, we're just reshaping it into a triangle.

A 24-hour news triangle.

There are no longer two sides to every story. At The News we believe there are three: the newspaper's, the Web site's and the e-mail edition's (either "Quick Click" or cell phone text messaging).

We believe each of these methods can benefit our entire audience, but at the same time, each is structured to target different market segments. From students to senior citizens, we hope we're offering content for everyone and that it arrives when they're ready to use it.

At the New Castle News, we're basing our efforts on one word: PLAN.

P, prioritize and prepare: It's always important on a daily basis, but it's critical before big events or major projects. Gather editors, reporters and photographers — anyone most prominent in the news and Web production efforts — and break down the coverage process:

What will be covered? What, exactly, will be taking place and what can we document to best serve our readers?

How will we cover it? Do we send a reporter and photographer? Two photographers? Should we get video and audio for the Web? Are there any documents we can run on the Web in their entirety?

When do we present the information to our readers? It's important to set deadlines for Web information as well as the newspaper. As stated earlier, our goal is to become the TV station, radio station and newspaper that our audience turns to. And in some instances, we're the "well-connected neighbor" calling your cell phone with instant information.

It's important to layer the coverage to keep readers moving along to different mediums for information.

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L, leave the job descriptions behind: We're not reporters, photographers and editors — we're journalists. On any given day, a columnist might be blogging from a voting site. A photographer might be a videographer at the Christmas parade. A news designer might be posting photos on the Web following a post-deadline fire.

It's a different time, a different day and a different news cycle — immediate. The bus never stops rolling. Our job as editors is to get the right people into the right seats, depending on the situation at hand.

For years we've been looking for "three-tool" employees when hiring newsroom personnel — writing, editing and paginating. Now we're looking for a fourth tool: Web skills, or at least a willingness to learn them.

A, ask two questions when planning a project: What can we do? What technology do we have at the ready? Who knows how to use it? How can we cross promote and present information across platforms?

What can't we do in the paper that we can do in another medium? Perhaps it's audio and video on the Web. Or maybe connecting with people while they are mobile by text messaging a cell phone. We're no longer bound by press constraints and carriers, and we must take advantage.

N, no limits: Why can't we "own" our markets and become the first TV station, radio station and newspaper our residents turn to?

I know it's a reach, but we're dreaming big. My feeling is there will be thousands of "stations" popping up across the nation. We must help viewers identify ours as the place to go for local news of all varieties.

Believe me, we struggle each day just to put out a quality newspaper. The situation can be doubly tough on editors at smaller organizations. We've learned over the years that our technology will fail us at some point each day. Our people will take vacations and get sick. We'll look around the room and everyone is already working on other tasks.

That said, we can't blink in terms of our vision. We have to keep telling ourselves it's not about doing more with less. It's about doing better. It's about extending our reach and not just amplifying it.

We still must strive to maintain the traditional values of a newspaper — truth, ethics, and compassion — but continually search for new ways of sharing information.

The future was yesterday. Tomorrow is already history.

There's no turning back now.

Tim Kolodziej can be reached by e-mail at tkolodziej@ncnewsonline.com.