Freedom isn’t free
I’m not sure if I’m creating a blasphemous analogy on the anniversary of our nation’s founding by saying this but here goes.
It may come as a shock to some that newspapers need to make money. Yes, we are the guardians of the First Amendment, a voice for the voiceless and the afflicters of the comfortable.
Newsrooms everywhere are in a downward spiral. Tampa Tribune editor in chief Janet Coats, according to blogger and news intern Jessica DaSilva, decided to reorganize the newsroom and reprioritize the newspaper’s coverage.
Essentially, it’s a shakeup of the traditional beat system. From Mindy McAdams’ blog:
- Managing editors
- 5-6 audience editors — keep in touch with what the print, TV, online audiences want/need
- 5 sections of reporting (all the reporters for print, TV and Web are mashed up together in these groups):
- Deadline — for breaking/daily news
- Data — specifically for database stuff
- Watchdog — for investigative reporting
- Personal journalism — stuff for people’s every day lives like weather, health, entertainment
- Grassroots — citizen journalism
Outside of these groups are three “finishing” groups for print, TV and online to determine what stories should be covered and with what medium.
Read more of McAdams’ blog. I really like how she lays out the system for news coverage.
DeSilvas continues with some reaction from the newsroom on the day of the announcement:
“People need to stop looking at TBO.com as an add on to The Tampa Tribune,” (Coats) said. “The truth is that The Tampa Tribune is an add on to TBO.”
Wow. Someone said that? And that someone was the editor in chief? But wait… there’s more.
She continued from this point, saying she wasn’t sure, but that this had to be a step in the right direction. If we don’t move, she said, newspapers will continue their “death spiral - because that’s what this is.”
…
That’s how the news is, she said. There is a high demand for it, but with abundant access to it, it’s time to rethink how we can carve out a niche. Her idea? Hyperlocal journalism.
If they want national news, they have several national news sources to get it. Instead, the Trib should be used to give the community something they can’t get from the NY Times or WaPo. Give them their news.
Local content is the bread and butter of community papers, something larger newspapers are starting to realize. But community papers are starting to feel the pinch too, as I pointed out yesterday.
With all of the scares in the news industry, we need bold leaders who are not afraid to shake up the status quo. We need reporters who are not afraid to hold a microphone, or try to shoot a video. We also need a funding mechanism that works.
Granted, not everyone is happy. Sports reporters are calling it Black Wednesday, mostly because it eliminates the sports department and rolls every reporter together. Some reporters might work on sports assignments and they might work on city hall coverage. If that assessment is true, it’s a shakeup indeed, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Just shaking up the status quo is not a business plan, though.
But at least we’re seeing how unqualified today’s young journalists are. Newspapers have lowered their standards and thrown open their doors to these people, and they aren’t bringing much to the table.
Between this intern’s post, some of the ignorant responses, and more ignorance from a young Poynterbot (http://www.wenalway.com/forum/index.php?topic=108.msg4779#new), we’re learning that the journalism professors are dropping the ball, and the graduates aren’t nearly as smart as the clueless newspaper hiring execs claim they are.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Maybe I’m a bit naive, too. But I don’t see anyone else actually doing anything to stop this downward spiral that newspapers are surfing right now.
I also think that j-schools are about 20 years in the past. I graduated college in 2000, and when I took a copy editing and design class, we learned how to use a pica meter and a photo wheel. If we ever survive a nuclear holocaust, I can help put out a paper.
Don’t lose all hope for today’s graduating journalists. For instance, my paper has a very enthusiastic intern. Like all interns, he has room to grow and lessons to learn. But he has a passion for journalism, in whatever form that may be.
Keep in mind, today’s grads through those in their early 30s were likely not around the last time newspapers had as many cuts. Were there ever as many, or across as broad a scale, even in the worst of times in the 80s and 90s?
I also do not believe that “old school” journos have nothing to contribute. Everyone has a dog in this fight. But think about it. What are the old school journos doing? I am sure they are doing something, but unless they publicize it everyone will assume they are doing nothing.
Personally I am dying to know what business model will bring papers out of this slump. That’s the million dollar question right there.
July 5th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
“a copy editing and design class” — First, those are two separate things, and if they’re blended together in one class, that is a sign of trouble.
I actually think newspapers should implement wholesale changes. But those don’t include firing everyone older than (name an age) and bringing in wholly unqualified young journos and treating them as the next saviors. That approach is simply asinine, yet that’s what many people seem to want.
The best business model is probably one that’s too late to implement. But clearly AP is not interested in being part of a solution, so that organization needs to be excluded as soon as possible.
Also, newspaper designers keep claiming they are the solution, but no redesign has ever led to a sustained circulation boost. So they need to be excluded as much as possible. Pseudoeditors of presentation? Gone.
Then there needs to be an announcement: Yes, the Internet is the future. But it’s not the present. If you want to be part of the current business model while planning for the future, come on in. But if you want to cling to “pie-in-the-sky” dreams and “the way it SHOULD be” rather than “the way it is,” then you need to find some other work.
Next, there needs to be a blunt message delivered to newsrooms: Stop clinging to the way things “used to be.” From this day forward, the B.S. of “We’ve always blamed the desk” or “We don’t get paid enough to act professionally” will stop. People in businesses act in a business-like manner. Yes, the work should be fun, but that doesn’t include slacking off. The fun will come along with the accomplishments. People with Watergate-era agendas need to move along; not every story is a probe into what the next Deep Throat has to say.
July 12th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
[…] of this seems similar to the recently-announced Tampa Tribune reorganization, though to be fair, the Trib had a serious amount of layoffs and I think they had to change or be […]