Dean Singleton has put his MediaNews Group on notice. The chairman and CEO of the Denver-based newspaper company told his staff in a company-wide memo (posted as a text file at LAObserved.com) from himself and other senior execs that he expects online sales to triple by 2012, 50 percent of operating cash flow to come from online compared with 22 percent now, and promised acquisitions with other newspaper companies.

From the memo: “Novelist James Baldwin once wrote about the future being like heaven: ‘everybody exalts it, but no one wants to go there now.’ Well, we in the newspaper business need to go there, and we need to go there.” As for the internet: ”This is a growth business for us, and we intend to capitalize on it.  It is our future. 

Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) consortium: The partnership with Yahoo is cited as a “key element of growth.” The first “milestone” is set for this month: the rollout of the full Yahoo HotJobs platform in MediaNews papers. Other aspects en route include Yahoo becoming the primary provider of search on MediaNews’ websites (full web search, sponsored search, content match and placement of the Yahoo toolbar on each site) with the two sharing search revenue; the sites content will be treated preferentially by Yahoo News Search; and all ad serving will move to the Yahoo ad network platform.

Acquisitions:  “We’re investing with other newspaper companies to acquire creative online vendors that can help facilitate industry products to leverage our local strengths across national platforms.  Stay tuned for announcements to come.”

Expanding websites: MediaNews has an “online first” approach for its newsrooms. The company is also expanding beyond newspaper sites as it pushes a “marketplace strategy” that includes “leveraging the interactivity of the web, with user generated content, customer feedback, and user self-generated ads.” The marketplaces will be added to regional sites like LA.com, BayArea.com and InsideDenver.com later this year or early next.

Print: Despite the stress on internet sales, MediaNews is still investing—and relying—on print. The effort includes a major emphasis on reducing newsroom costs; for instance, consolidating reporting and editing in the Bay Area and merging news and business functions of its nine LA dailies. At the same time, MediaNews is expanding sales staff across the board. Also, MediaNews plans new magazines in 50 markets, mostly bi-monthly covering 10 of its niche categories. Each will include a web component.The niche segment “will generate $75 million of revenue for MediaNews this year.”

By the numbers: “This year, we’ll generate 89 percent of total revenue from our core, 7 percent from online and 4 percent from niche products.  In operating cash flow, we currently generate 73 percent from core, 22 percent from online and 5 percent from niche products.  In five years or 2012, we expect 68 percent of revenue to come from core, 20 percent from online and 12 percent from niche. In operating cash flow, our goal in 2012 is 40 percent from core, 50 percent from online and 10 percent from niche.” One example of progress: operating cash flow is approaching 30 percent in Salt Lake City and St. Paul.

For the full flavor, read it all. Also, check out Bloomberg.