At the Newspaper Next workshop in New York last week there was a lot of talk about business models, growth, newspaper “products” and “consumers,” all good stuff for sure. But very little was mentioned about how to change the way we do journalism in a connected age.

The talk, led by Stephan Gray, focused on research from the American Press Institute to try and spark innovation in newspapers. Sounds familiar.

But the only mention of using crowds was in relation to “building audiences by fulfilling jobs beyond news.” In other words — the wisdom of the crowd can help find babysitters or recommend good movies.

The thrust of Newspaper Next’s research comes from Clayton Christensen’s book The Innovators Solution. A look at how different industries deal with changing market factors.

We all want newspapers to succeed. And to do so changes need to happen. But the $2 million spent by Newspaper Next to research business model transformations — like offering online coupons (warning: causes several pop-ups) as done by the Desert Sun in Palm Spring Ca, or the Dallas Morning News’ soon to launch family oriented site to help plan a children’s shedulel — don’t address the real problem.

The question asked is how to make newspapers indispensable again to “consumers.” That right there is the problem. Readers aren’t just consumers anymore. Newspaper Next seemed to overlook that “consumers” are part of the news itself. Journalism is a give and take relationship. It always has been, but now the potential for that to develop is picking up speed. How can newspapers make this process as seamless as possible — that’s a good question. But it wasn’t asked.

A quote was used to explain how a lot of newspaper publishers feel right now. “I don’t know what to do, but I’m ready to do it.” I’m sure a lot of them are turning to Newspaper Next’s paid staff for answers. But perhaps they could get better advice for free by asking their readers.