A Trip on Uncharted Waters
A belated welcome to 2007. We semi-retired professors need, and take, more of a break than do you more active journalists.
I labeled my last post "A Staggering Year," and 2006 was for most of us in journalism, certainly in the Northeast Ohio newspaper world. But 2007?
Congressman Tim Ryan, in a speech Friday at the Akron Press Club, talked about government being "in uncharted waters." He said we need to get rid of old slogans, both from liberals and conservatives, both from the left and right, both from Democrats and Republicans. Ryan talked about trying to solve 21st century problems with a 20th century bureaucracy (he mentioned Katrina).
Throughout his speech I kept thinking of a 20th century media trying to compete in the 21st century. I am reminded of a mid-90s Associated Press Managing Editors convention where a panel of top industry leaders had virtually no ideas for facing the 21st century. True the Internet was not the ubiquitous entity it is now; the main threat at the time was to the newspaper's bedrock classified advertising income. And, I have to confess, I didn't have any more ideas then than did any other journalist or journalism educator.
However, I'm not totally pessimistic as we start a new year. Like Ryan, I see glimmers of hope. I think 2007 will be another rocky year for much of the media; in Northeast Ohio we have the Canton Repository still looking for a new owner, the Plain Dealer looking for a new editor and the Beacon Journal adapting to the firing of editor Debra Adams Simmons (presumably for money reasons; she apparently isn't being replaced). But finally we are seeing more management groups coming to grips with this changing media environment. Two of many examples are cited below.
Major Shakeup in Virginia
One newspaper undergoing a shakeup is the Richmond Times-Dispatch under Executive Editor Glenn Proctor. Glenn is a member of the JMC advisory board at Kent State and a former Akron Beacon Journal staffer.
American Journalism Review recently wrote about the changes, especially Glenn's management style (think Bobby Knight) and what it called the "reader-friendly revolution" in Richmond, a city linked with the Confederacy and a newspaper remembered for opposing school integration. Naturally the staff seems divided on the changes in what AJR calls a "culture clash." (For those who don't know Glenn, he is an African American and a former Marine.)
Change on the West Coast
The Los Angeles Times, itself facing a potential sale and the aftermath of the highly publicized resignation of Editor Dean Baquet, announced last week a major Web initiative. Following up on a report begun under Baquet, Editor James O'Shea told staff members that it was imperative that the Times begin viewing latimes.com as the paper's primary vehicle for delivering news.
The Times' own story on the new initiative reports their Web site has only 18 editorial employees compared to 200 at the Washington Post's site and 50 at the New York Times' site. Also from the report: "To put it bluntly . . . we are not Web-savvy. If anything, we are Web-stupid." O'Shea is launching a crash course to teach reporters, editors and photographers how to post content on latimes.com.
MM II
Here at Kent State planning has started for the second annual Media Mindsets conference. The first conference, "Where Is My Audience Going? New Media, New Challenges, New Solutions," focused on the many changes taking place in the media world. This year we want to highlight ways the media is changing. Although much about the future is obviously unknown, media managers know that changes are imperative. Or, as Rep. Ryan would say, they must manage in these "uncharted waters."
We want your suggestions on potential speakers and panel topics. We are working with the university to pin down a date for the conference, which we hope to announce soon. Feel free to share your thoughts for the 2007 conference by posting a comment to this blog or by emailing me at jharper@kent.edu.
I labeled my last post "A Staggering Year," and 2006 was for most of us in journalism, certainly in the Northeast Ohio newspaper world. But 2007?
Congressman Tim Ryan, in a speech Friday at the Akron Press Club, talked about government being "in uncharted waters." He said we need to get rid of old slogans, both from liberals and conservatives, both from the left and right, both from Democrats and Republicans. Ryan talked about trying to solve 21st century problems with a 20th century bureaucracy (he mentioned Katrina).
Throughout his speech I kept thinking of a 20th century media trying to compete in the 21st century. I am reminded of a mid-90s Associated Press Managing Editors convention where a panel of top industry leaders had virtually no ideas for facing the 21st century. True the Internet was not the ubiquitous entity it is now; the main threat at the time was to the newspaper's bedrock classified advertising income. And, I have to confess, I didn't have any more ideas then than did any other journalist or journalism educator.
However, I'm not totally pessimistic as we start a new year. Like Ryan, I see glimmers of hope. I think 2007 will be another rocky year for much of the media; in Northeast Ohio we have the Canton Repository still looking for a new owner, the Plain Dealer looking for a new editor and the Beacon Journal adapting to the firing of editor Debra Adams Simmons (presumably for money reasons; she apparently isn't being replaced). But finally we are seeing more management groups coming to grips with this changing media environment. Two of many examples are cited below.
Major Shakeup in Virginia
One newspaper undergoing a shakeup is the Richmond Times-Dispatch under Executive Editor Glenn Proctor. Glenn is a member of the JMC advisory board at Kent State and a former Akron Beacon Journal staffer.
American Journalism Review recently wrote about the changes, especially Glenn's management style (think Bobby Knight) and what it called the "reader-friendly revolution" in Richmond, a city linked with the Confederacy and a newspaper remembered for opposing school integration. Naturally the staff seems divided on the changes in what AJR calls a "culture clash." (For those who don't know Glenn, he is an African American and a former Marine.)
Change on the West Coast
The Los Angeles Times, itself facing a potential sale and the aftermath of the highly publicized resignation of Editor Dean Baquet, announced last week a major Web initiative. Following up on a report begun under Baquet, Editor James O'Shea told staff members that it was imperative that the Times begin viewing latimes.com as the paper's primary vehicle for delivering news.
The Times' own story on the new initiative reports their Web site has only 18 editorial employees compared to 200 at the Washington Post's site and 50 at the New York Times' site. Also from the report: "To put it bluntly . . . we are not Web-savvy. If anything, we are Web-stupid." O'Shea is launching a crash course to teach reporters, editors and photographers how to post content on latimes.com.
MM II
Here at Kent State planning has started for the second annual Media Mindsets conference. The first conference, "Where Is My Audience Going? New Media, New Challenges, New Solutions," focused on the many changes taking place in the media world. This year we want to highlight ways the media is changing. Although much about the future is obviously unknown, media managers know that changes are imperative. Or, as Rep. Ryan would say, they must manage in these "uncharted waters."
We want your suggestions on potential speakers and panel topics. We are working with the university to pin down a date for the conference, which we hope to announce soon. Feel free to share your thoughts for the 2007 conference by posting a comment to this blog or by emailing me at jharper@kent.edu.
posted by Joe at 9:33 AM
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