The Washington Post's decision to allow comments on all of its online news stories is indeed a good example of innovative ways that newspapers are seeking new growth online. As washingtonpost.com Executive Editor Jim Brady said in the latest episode of Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer:

The more people talk about [the paper's content] online, the more page views we get and the more money we can feed back into journalism.

However, I'm not convinced that all papers' online growth will be such a boon to the news. Take The Boston Globe, the local paper in my neck of the woods. The struggling paper, whose future has been heavily debated over the past week amidst speculation about a possible outside takeover bid, recently introduced its online Boston Globe Store.

This shopping site sells novelties with a local flare such as magnets showing photos of superstar Red Sox players, coffee mugs featuring aerial photos of the Boston Harbor, and an ultra-weave tapestry of the cover photo from the Boston Globe's Super Bowl XXXVI special section. The photos on all items were taken by Boston Globe staff.

Perhaps to some readers these items links somehow to the news. But I can't imagine they'll draw more readers to the Globe's news content or help its news pages generate the revenue they need. In fact, this particular sort of new growth leaves me wondering whether newspapers' struggle to survive may lead them to turn into something else altogether.