We almost didn't promote one of this week's reports, "The best versus the rest," taken from a presentation at the Borrell 2012 Local Online Advertising Conference, because it restated some oof what appears to be "the obvious."

However, I have gotten a number of phone calls in the last few weeks from mid-level execs at small and large companies, concerned that very top people in the company are still on the fence about shifting resources to digital as significantly or quickly as they feel is required to keep up.

So we are promoting the report this week on what key initiatives five companies who lead in market share think are most important. A key element in all five "best" companies is that digital leadership at the very top levels is committed, evangelical and backing that commitment with attention and resources.

The following interview is with Kurt Lozier, SVP of Dow Jones Local Media Group, which is currently testing paywalls in eight small markets. The complete case study is this week's lead item.

LMI: Looking over the data, do you find it remarkable that 50% of print subscribers have chosen to pay more to read news online, simply because you asked them to?

Lozier: The take rate was higher than we thought. Every time I read about (publishers) launching a site who say current subscribers get into for free, I want to grab the phone and call them. If you just give it to current subscribers, you don't know if it has value. Our new core product is print plus online.