Print and Online: Like Ham and Eggs

If you're a sports addict, you have to go online. Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, assistant managing editor for sports, said, "What we try to do in sports is use the Web for turn-of-the-screw insider coverage for people who are junkies over specific teams or sports. We use the newspaper for traditional and broader coverage. There is an added dimension online for those who are extremely devoted to a special topic."

Speaking of fans, The Post has started the Grounds Crew, a blog strictly written by fans about the new Nationals Park. Print doesn't lend itself to that kind of interactivity. For vigorous and sometimes barely civil discourse, go online. If you want generally polite and signed letters, read them in print.

Readers who aren't online often feel cheated or left behind. Usually, they are older people afraid that they can't learn to use computers. To those readers: You can do it! Readers in their 80s and even 90s e-mail me all the time.

The print and online operations of The Post have been under different management. But that's changing; now they report to the same person -- the new publisher, Katharine Weymouth. The newspaper must remain vibrant and worth every penny and more to readers and advertisers. Washingtonpost.com must do the same. Weighing the economic verities against the necessities of journalism will give her a great challenge. Those of us who love journalism wish her well.

Deborah Howell can be reached at 202-334-7582 or atombudsman@washpost.com.