The Modern Journalist

The Merc Has It (Mostly) Right. So Of Course Reporters Are Pissed

I read this memo, sent by the San Jose Mercury News Executive Editor Dave Butler, and for about 10 grafs, I was stoked.

The essence: modern journalist dictates that we embrace technologies, but that doesn’t mean we abandon journalism.

It’s a wonderful screed about changes that will be happen in the newsroom, but the underlying message is that the paper is going to push forward with great journalism and use the various platforms as a way to attract new readers.

All I have to say to that: YES

There are two problems, though. The first is Butler’s apparent lack of understanding of how people use the Web, although I’m quite sure that can be overcome considering his forward-thinking rant.

But it also means we will tell stories in other ways - in more Q & As, in more boxes, in more graphics. It means we will be thinking about how we can complement what’s in print with what’s only online - whether that’s video or audio or a slideshow, or a sidebar.

The larger problem are the comments, which I assume comes from reporters at different papers. Essentially, the comments are negative — egoistic in nature. They can be boiled down to this: I’m not changing what I do, damn the Internet.

This thinking drives me nuts. We live in an ever-changing world. While I recognize the the management at most newspapers (everywhere really) leaves something to be desired, that doesn’t give reporters the right to reject change because they don’t like it. It’s not the marketing department that changed the world. It’s not the bean counters.

It’s the Internet. The sooner you come to grips with this, the better — and easier — your job will be.

Newspapers survived the multimedia crazy. The interactive CD crazy. You’ll survive the Internet phenomenon. However, each of these technologies changed the way we told stories…and you have to adapt.

Or as Butler said, maybe it’s time to look for a new profession.