Age Old Question Still Lives: how to digitize your editorial newsroom…

November 17th, 2011, In Newspapers, Online Journalism, Print Media, by Beverly Crandon

For those of you who have been on both sides of publishing content, print versus Web, the age old question of how news content should be treated in today’s digital market, is an old one.  However, what’s old for those of us who have been living the double-edged sword, is still very new and very pressing to others.  Today, for example, I came across an article that was addressing a Detroit newspaper groups Managing Editor’s trials and tribulations, as she tries to move her editorial staff through to incorporate digital reporting, in their story suite.  Quite naturally, and as I have seen in the past, this Managing Editor is coming up against opposition, where her editorial staff haven’t yet drank the Kool Aid.  To them, adding the social media tasks to their list of things to do, when covering a story is too mundane, tedious and again to them, damn near impossible, given all of their other responsibilities.  When I first read the Managing Editors point of view, the view of one of her editorial staff and lastly the gentleman who wrote the all encompassing article, I was surprised that these conversations still existed, given all that we’ve learned about social media today and the consumer interaction levels with it.  At one point in the article, the writer makes reference to the social media tasks that the Managing Editor is asking her staff to do, as setting up the group to give away all of the newspapers content, and then some, online, making the printed edition obsolete.  News flash … the peril of the print newspaper has nothing to do with the tasks the editorial staff is being asked to do, it has to do with the choices now available for the public to consume information.  The worst thing a newspaper could do is cut itself off of an obviously publicly accepted information source – social media.

We here support the Detroit newspaper groups Managing Editor in her efforts, but we do think she has missed the mark in one area.  Social Media and its effective use can seem somewhat daunting to the average person, especially when you’re asking them to use it in a professional sense.  Given this, not everyone will embrace it – it’s something new that for them outside of posting pictures of their vacation or latest addition to the family, its other uses appear foreign.  This newspaper group should look at staff aptitude.  Are they asking the wrong employee profile to assume these tasks?  Are they setting them up for failure, if the digital Web isn’t something they grasp?  Instead of asking why her incumbent staff isn’t on board with social media, she should be asking who would be.  What does the ideal reporter look like in this digital age? What experience and background would they need to come equipped with?  What tools should they have already used to be a part of a digital editorial team?  Stop harping on the ones who refuse to commit and start working on building a team of editorial staff who work to usher your paper and digital divisions forward, in our ever changing digital world.

We strongly believe that there is still room for both printed news and digital news and the folks who will succeed will apply the right balance and remove any content protectionist  plans.  The bottom line is, if you refuse to offer the information digitally, your readers will utilize other Web sources to find it.  Thinking that by hiding the content behind a ‘walled garden’ with a smile will be enough to protect your product road map and growth plan will be enough, is a sure fire way to set you up for demise.

You can read Michelle Rogers’ viewpoint here, the Managing Editor we’ve made reference to above.

 

Featured image above courtesy of: alancleaver_2000

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