I would add up saying that the collaboration discussion is related to the same paradigm shift as in the discussion of digital x print (support, format, plataform), offline x online (synchronous) and as in the matters of business model (open x closed).

As you´re students, I suppose that your infra-structure and institution allows you some regulated freedom. I see you dare, I see you growing, heading to the point.

Remember Kung Fu Panda: there´s no secret ingredient - but keep an eye on the difference between public interest and interest of the publiic (we face this so much in Brazil).Fact is: include people on the discussion. "The great value added up by a journalist is to provide the connections" - I read something like that from Thomas Friedman´s "The Lexus and the Olive Tree - understanding Globalization". It´s great that you all seem to catch at least a fair glimpse of it.

Remember also what a character says in "Adaptation" (starring Nicolas Cage as two twin brothers who write for cinema). The character call attention to the fact that the world is full - full! - of news all the time, so there´s no complaining about "lack of subject".

Another guy says that one aspect of the crisis is that most people pay attention on the same things, and don´t pay also on the same things

Reality is really so interdependent and complex both locally and globally that collaboration is not only an opportunity, but un urgent need! We see so many things going worse than it could, while regular news and regular "offline people" are... say... with their minds out of the big deals. Mass media is so last millenium and so are people who are outside of crowdsourcing, social entrepreneuring, collaboration and innovation.

Survival of the fittest. Make news for the best, not for the most

I'll go ahead and add one more thing to the last point: Provide a place to discuss strategies for dealing with the poor economy and build a staff that can not only survive in this time of evolution but thrive.

Think about how your newsroom is structured. Is it Web-first? For weekend sports games, do your writers live blog during the game and file a gamer right after it wraps up? Are your Web staff treated as more than just technical monkeys?

I hope CoPress can kick-start discussion among like-minded young journalists about not only what needs to be changed but more importantly how to change it.

I'd love to see CoPress (and its forum, wiki, etc.) grow into:

A place to crowdsource a solution for a particularly difficult problem

For instance: How is your newsroom structured overall? Who works what hours? What is your copyflow like and when does stuff go up on the Web? How do you motivate print-centric reporters to think multimedia?How do you keep content fresh during the day when most of your staff is in class?

A source for tips and tricks that have worked for other young journalists

If you have a success story that I can learn from, I want to hear it. On the other hand, if you thought big and failed even bigger, why? I want to learn from that mistake now, not later when I risk making the same one.

My Google Reader is full of blog entries that help fit the bill, but it'd be nice to have one central place to start looking when I'm on a quest to find tips on making an in-depth Flash project, for instance.

A source of inspiration so we can stay innovative amid all the doom-and-gloom talk

Journalists who break the rules and make their own can be the perfect fix for a crummy disposition.

Thanks for kicking this off, Greg!