The Q&A interview has been a staple in newspapers and magazines for years.

But the Q&A interview is changing as reader involvement becomes more important for newspapers.

I ran across a few simple examples on a national scale this week that are worth noting for community newspapers.

The TODAY Show is interviewing Michelle Obama live on their broadcast on Wednesday morning. They are asking readers to write in with their questions for the First Lady.

And Time magazine, in their popular "10 questions with" feature, actually features questions readers want the publication to ask for upcoming interviews and they feature who asked the question.

Both of these are good ideas and could be adapted for local Q&A features.

• You could easily build a promotion in your Q&A, telling readers who you are interviewing next week or the following, inviting them to send questions to the assigned reporter.

• Consider how you could promote something like this on your website, with a photo of your next Q&A. Imagine this headline: "Have something you want to say to the mayor? Talk to us."

• If you invite readers to ask questions, consider putting their name after the subject's response. You may want to consider putting your readers' questions in a reader breakout box, so your reporter can make sure they get through all of the big questions.

• Using social media would make sense for this kind of feature. Consider asking your Facebook friends and Twitter followers to send you questions.

These aren't necessarily ground-breaking ideas, but are simple steps that will make readers feel more apart of your coverage and newspaper.