In the midst of all the red ink, layoffs, buyouts, stock crashes, and disppearing advertising revenue plaguing the newspaper industry, some companies are making fast, smart changes that suggest a brighter future.

Leading the way is The New York Times. While so other media execs are lengthening their visits to the corner bar, where kvetching finds many a sympathetic ear, Times’ execs have been implementing feature after feature that indicate they are getting down with the digital program.

One example is Timespeople, a social networking service that enables users to share, bookmark, and comment on stories , as well as rate restaurants and movies. All of this builds on the popularity of  “most emailed” link on the Times front page, long one of the must stops on the web for for news junkies. These days, the paper is also providing tabbed top ten lists of “most searched” and “most blogged,” which are valuable product extensions, as well.

According to WebWare,  the Times now is adding a custom widget generator that bloggers can use to embed news content. Other additions include a collection of application program interfaces that will transfer data to third-party sites.

Meanwhile, the Times’ Lede blog has been receiving high marks from websters for practicing “link journalism,” breaking with a tradition that held it was a cardinal sin to mention other news organizations, even when thay had broken a big story.

Accordingly, the blog has linked to  the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, USA Today, and even at least one independent blogger. This isn’t your grandmother’s “gray lady” any longer; this is a company ready to take risks and join the entrepreneurial sector that is establishing the future of news… now.