Although most online news still is viewed via computers, rather than mobile devices, e-readership is on the rise, with news the leading content accessed via iPads or iPhones.

And with media mogul Rupert Murdoch planning the launch of a national daily newspaper available exclusively for mobile devices like tablet computers and cell phones, now is the time for newspaper companies to start focusing on how to make better use of mobile technology, so as not to make the same mistakes they made with the Internet, wrote Alan D. Mutter for Editor & Publisher.

In the 1990s, Mutter wrote, newspapers put all their content up on the web, in basically the same format as the printed version, and gave it away for free. "Seeing little point in Internet advertising, most publishers gave print advertisers 'bonus' online ads that they essentially trained advertisers not to value," which in the end had two consequences: paying subscribers shifted to reading the news for free online, and the eroding circulation meant less advertising.

"Now that the move to mobile is giving publishers their last, best chance for a do-over, they are doing exactly the same un-strategic things they did on the Web in hopes of achieving a different outcome," Mutter wrote. "...With few notable exceptions, the mobile apps released by newspapers to date do little more than faithfully reproduce the same content already carried in print and on their websites. In addition to typically being free for consumers, the apps carry little, if any, advertising. Worst of all, the apps are doing nothing to attract the two-thirds of the people who do not happen to read a newspaper or visit its website."

As such, Mutter said, the apps need to be more engaging, because readers are no longer just passive consumers. Apps also should be "customizable and geographically aware," and "foster community and enable user control."

"Static apps filled with yesterday's news just won't cut it," Mutter concluded. "This time, newspapers really, really can't afford to get this wrong. Really."

This year is supposed to be the Year of the Tablet, with tablet computer sales in the U.S. expected to reach 70 million in 2011 and 2012, which means even more print newspaper readers will migrate to digital news, reported the Nieman Journalism Lab.

Already the iPad app for The New York Times has reached 1.5 million downloads since it was launched in April, according to Beet.TV.

Meanwhile, the launch of Murdoch's iPad newspaper The Daily has been delayed, most likely because of changes being to an automatic subscription service, according to the Guardian.

Recognizing the importance for new ideas to rejuvenate the industry, the Associated Press Managing Editors Innovator of the Year contest is being expanded to recognize one newspaper each month.

"What's a Great Idea? It can be a new concept for print or online, or a major improvement to something we do every day," the contest website says. "What is an Innovator of the Year entry? It is an innovation in print, online, management, structure or other area that demonstrates a bold, creative effort to improve a news or information product and increase audience."