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In discussing the various ideas that might ultimately “save journalism,” we’ve seen ideas ranging from the ever contentious paywall (or in the New York Times’ case, “metered models”), to DemandMedia-style monetization, to hyper-local news and citizen journalism.

These last few days some of the big media names have begun to think way outside the proverbial “box,” seeking to reinvent themselves as more than just search engines, websites, or publishers.  First, Yahoo bought Associated Content and proclaimed its quest to become the world’s biggest content provider, a move which positioned Yahoo against Demand Media.

The plot thickens. PaidContent reported that the rivalry between Yahoo and DemandMedia has extended to their slogans. Yahoo is trying to trademark “Science + Art + Scale,” a motto strikingly similar to a phrase DemandMedia has been tossing about: “Science, Scale and Soul.”

Last week, AOL joined the Yahoo-DemandMedia fray, with its decision to hire hundreds of  journalists, editors and videographers to produce content for their 17 consolidated “supernetworks.” More details in AOL’s plan were revealed today in the New York Times. Using MTV as a model, AOL unveiled its bid to take on YouTube, with the creation of Cambio “a next-generation video network for the web.”

It would be remiss to ignore News Corp (of Wall Street Journal, Myspace and Fox News fame), which announced that it has bought Skiff, an e-reader company to “to deliver premium journalism to tablets, smartphones, e- readers and netbooks.”

This is quite the statement. As Next Web’s Chad Cataccchio writes, “So in one fell swoop, News Corp just announced to the world that it is going to take on the Kindle, iBooks and all feed reader apps out there. There is no other way to look at this.”

As Yahoo, AOL and News Corp reposition themselves as providers of content and in News Corp’s case, eReaders, it will be interesting to see whose gambles succeed.

Can Yahoo and AOL overtake mainstream media?

Will News Corp defeat the Kindle & iPad?

No matter what, these gambles have opened the door for bold moves by other publishers. Yahoo, AOL and New Corp’s decisions have shown that traditional rules no longer apply. To survive, mainstream media must broaden its horizons.

— Lee Glandorf

On Twitter @LeeGlandorf