This Time article is a pretty sobering overview of 10 U.S. papers that may have to either shift to online-only delivery or disappear completely. There are some huge names on this list — papers like the San Francisco Chronicle, the Miami Herald, the Boston Globe, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. It’s stunning to see them here. They’re regional papers. They’re arguably papers of record for their respective states. If you’ve been following suggestions for what the future of newspapers holds, here are some options:

1. Existing as an online-only paper. Intriguing option, but online advertising needs to get more innovative to be attractive to potential advertisers, and print readers will have to condition themselves to read the paper in online form. Will there be some sort of hybrid format giving us online delivery but a print experience? Will online layout have to change to replicate the print experience more faithfully? Or are we prepared to lose whatever segment of readership can’t or won’t make the leap?

2. Adopting a non-profit model. It’s easy to make a joke and say that some papers are already there, but maybe the answer lies in a public radio model of underwriting, fundraising drives, and membership. A big question: Will subscribers and single-issue buyers be willing to donate under this model? And can newspapers function under this model effectively?

3. Accepting government subsidies. It’s happening in France. It doesn’t bode well for the newspaper as the Fourth Estate, and I think it would produce some serious ethical quagmires down the line, but would we better off with no newspaper at all versus one that receives some level of government support? Could there be a way to protect a newspaper’s autonomy and still allow tax dollars to go to it?

Loving newspapers and news coverage is a large part of why I’m in PR. I came from the world of newspapers. I worked at a college paper in which we typed articles on typewriters, sent them in a pneumatic tube system to the typesetters who waited (in the basement, no less) to retype the copy, and then laid them out for press using waxers and exacto knives and border tape. In the days I freelanced for the Seattle Times, in pre-Internet days, I’d file overnight concert reviews by reporting to the newsroom after the concert ended, waiting for a guard to let me in, logging into a copy editor’s computer, and composing the review in eerie, late-night silence. I would miss newspapers if they went away.

But newspapers need to figure out now how to live online. Does it mean a premium for more comprehensive access, like ESPN charges for its insider features? Could the newspaper host articles on one particular company on a dedicated page? As a PR professional, I would love to have a page for each client, showcasing the coverage that newspaper has given that client, and know that the link won’t disappear to the paid archives in a month. What can newspapers do to help individual subscribers personalize the articles that come to them, using all the various devices available for accessing online content?

I’m eager to see how newspapers will adapt, and if the recession will spur them on to the innovation possibly now. Believe me, I’m rooting for the newspapers to make it, even if they move beyond ink and paper.