How important is the Internet?

How important is the Internet?

Well, I'm stranded in Miami, no suitcase, no hotel, no sleep (thanks American Airlines) but at least I have the Internet.

The Rocky Mountain News apparently thinks the same way. According to maybe the most telling piece I've read in the last 6 months, John Temple, the editor at The Rocky Mountain News, talks about how the Denver newspaper elite have swallowed hard and now have the Internet in their sites as "the future of our business".

In an article that spoke more from the heart then the pen, Temple talks about the reality of the threat posed by the online players and the pinpoint focus on the opportunities that exist.

But definately the most telling piece of the article is when Temple repeats the keys to newspapers success as discussed in recent executive meetings. This information is really encouraging. Newspaper publishers are really now starting to see this challenge, understanding the potential and reacting in a way that will open the eyes of their critics, supportors and the market. These keys to success that Temple provides are not new, in fact people have been heralding these as a way forward for some time. But it does mean that newspapers are acknowledging, listening and reacting faster then ever before. Here is what Temple said:

I thought you might be interested in some of the perspective I can share from this week's meeting.

• The consensus is that we're moving away from a media world of one-way communication (think network news anchors) to two-way dialogue.

• The individual is at the center of this world, not technology.

• The three big Internet portals - Yahoo, AOL and MSN - have more than 50 million visitors a day, twice the audience of a World Series game.

• Sixty-eight percent of teens have their own home page or blog site.

• Sixty percent of Americans play computer games, and the average gamer plays for 6.5 hours per week. The gaming industry now brings in more money than Hollywood does at the box office.

• Businesses now spend more on Internet advertising than on magazine and billboard advertising.

• Internet advertising is expected to grow nearly 50 percent in Denver next year.

Honest, to the point and worthy of a significant response.