I'm approaching this from the other direction. I'm going from the mail list, to the news publisher, to the journal and then to the forum. (All WebWiz) It's going to take a while but I'm thinking this is the way to go. It's how I plan to get these four elements into one.
The concept is to have the mail list be the core data and all grow from there. Alternatively, once complete, signing up for one will provide access (if activated) for all.
After a review of the existing code, it is apparent that it will not work "easily" and quite a bit of redevelopment/modification will be required.
It's a grand plan for a political website I'm working on, but when it's done it's going to be most useful.