As newspapers face challenging times, many have hired companies to help them explore ways to gain readers. One paper, the Los Angeles Times, has decided to use its own investigative resources to find the answers.

The LA Times has dedicated a team of three investigative reporters and six editors to explore ideas for re-engaging newspaper readers, both in print and online, writes the New York Times (via MediaBuyerPlanner). The paper's editor, Dean Baquet, along with new publisher David Hiller, met yesterday to breathe life into the initiative. A report is expected from the team in two months.

The initiative, called the Manhattan Project, refers to the U.S. effort to develop an atomic bomb during World War II - and is an exaggerated-for-effect overstatement of the problems facing newspapers, NYT points out. Those problems include declining circulations as readers migrate to the web, flat ad revenues and rising costs.

LA Times publisher Jeffrey M. Johnson was dismissed last week after he refused to make the job cuts demanded by corporate parent the Tribune Company. Baquet, who also refused the cuts and made the decision public in the editorial pages of the newspaper, agreed to stay, at least until he and the new publisher could see how they work together.