In a memo leaked last week to the Romenesko column on PoynterOnline, MediaNews Group head Dean Singleton outlined the results from a late April executive “Interactive Strategic Summit” held by the company. The conclusions mark some bold departures from typical newspaper dogma.

The summit included 22 executives from across the company. Singleton was blunt: print and online are too closely tied together, meaning that readers don’t value the newspaper’s content, while advertisers don’t view newspapers as a sexy vehicle anymore, particularly with classifieds. And by mimicking print content online newspapers cannot “meaningfully reach the next generation of readers,” Singleton wrote.

Singleton outlined three directions for change:

1. Stop putting all newspaper content online for free. Singleton wasn’t clear whether this would mean new pay products, or simply requiring users to register. But print subscribers will gain access to the entire Web site for free.

2. Differentiate between news and local content. The main “news.com” site (a placeholder name) will focus on breaking regional news and will include community involvement (read: unpaid bloggers) and third party content. News will of course come from print, but must be presented differently, Singleton said.

3. A separate “local.com” site will include information, resources, user content, shopping guides, and marketplaces and will aim to attract a younger audience, in particular entertainment and lifestyle content. City and community sites will be aggregated (Singleton cited YourHub). MediaNews is clearly aiming at the Yelp’s and Angie’s Lists of the Web world.

In terms of rolling out the plan, Singleton proposed that MediaNews Group “initially focus on five or six niche vertical content channels to support targeted advertising opportunities (many of which have reverse publishing opportunities).” New tiered circulation pricing strategies should also be considered, he said. And four new taskforces will be formed: news, local, premium and technology) to drive these ideas to market.

We’re glad to hear senior newspaper execs knocking their heads together to come up with new ideas and approaches. We’re not sure about putting the print edition at the center of some of the proposed future initiatives, but as Singleton concludes, “we’ll keep you posted.”