David Simon, now best known as creator of The Wire, and a former Baltimore Sun journalist, has a detailed essay about pay walls, including a plan to help newspapers effectively earn money:

[The New York Times and the Washington Post] must act. Together. On a specific date in the near future — let’s say September 1 for the sheer immediacy of it — both news organizations must inform readers that their Web sites will be free to subscribers only, and that while subscription fees can be a fraction of the price of having wood pulp flung on doorsteps, it is nonetheless a requirement for acquiring the contents of the news organizations that spend millions to properly acquire, edit, and present that work.

Not completely sure that this would have the desired effect, but I do think that bold and far-reaching action is required of the newspapers if they hope to survive another five years.