Currently housing its online and print staffs in separate offices, the Washington Post - a pioneer in online news publishing - will be encouraging further integration of its print and online packages, reports Reuters.

As WaPo's print rates continue to sink while its online advertising continues to rise - 30-60 percent annually - starting this month veteran print editors will begin to get more involved in the presentation of news online, as they do in print by guiding layout, headlines and photograph placement.

"The majority of their audience is now online," said Jeff Jarvis, media consultant and publisher of the Buzzmachine blog. "They have to serve that audience where that audience is."

Companies aiming to bridge the gap with their own web operations include USA Today publisher Gannett Co. Inc., which is reshaping newsrooms at nearly 90 local papers to emphasize web and print news editions as equally important.