Why it helps to talk about your newsroom culture
This headline jumped out at me from a very interesting blog post by Mark Pollard about the New York ad agency where he works, Big Spaceship: “It’s a very self-aware culture.”
He elaborated:
I can’t recall working somewhere and hearing people talk about the culture of an agency so frequently. It’s common to hear discussion about what sorts of clients and projects we thrive on and what sorts of clients and projects don’t feel right for us.
If you’re a newsroom leader or just interested in promoting a more creative newsroom, I recommend reading Pollard’s full post. Yes, he’s talking about an ad agency. But he just as easily could be describing a newsroom. How often in our newsrooms do we talk about the “sorts of [stories] and projects we thrive on?” If you truly want to do the kind of work you talk about late at night or at conferences, you need to have these conversations — a lot.
Would you have seen Barack Obama’s potential?
New college graduate Barack Obama got a job at a business information company in New York. His first boss was, in effect, a city editor. And he was not very impressed by young Obama. According to biographer David Maraniss, the boss “could not see him as a leader.”
The reason behind that editor’s opinion should interest every college media leader, especially those considering staff selections for the coming year.
Selected for college media staff? Cherish the moment
Joy in 140 characters. It’s a new rite of spring. Students take to Twitter to celebrate announcements of editors-in-chief, managing editors and other positions in college media newsrooms.
It takes me back to a time long before Twitter. But this won’t be a long nostalgic post. Indulge me one memory, and I’ll offer a brief bit of advice for the newly minted leaders.
Freeing your writing voice
It seems only fair after my post inviting you to the National College Media Convention session March 11 on writing with voice — and overcoming the “stranglers” — that I report on the solutions we discussed.
As always seems to be the case when the topic is great writing, a bunch of smart, engaged students turned up in New York — and again at Georgia State University on March 16 when I repeated the session at the SPJ “MediAtlanta” conference. (And at GSU, Seminole State College professor Jennifer Sheppard took great notes and graciously shared them so I could better recall questions and unscripted comments.)
So here are the five “stranglers” I listed, along with some suggested solutions.
Let’s improve college media coverage of rape, domestic violence
I’m happy to be among of group of College Media Association members who will sponsor a meeting at the New York convention March 10 to discuss coverage of rape and domestic violence.
Let’s talk at NYC13!
Your humble blogger will lead five sessions at the National College Media Convention, better known as NYC13, March 10-12 at the Sheraton New York. Here’s my schedule:
9 a.m. Sunday, March 10: Tough Interview? You Can Do It! Does your stomach ache at the thought of interviewing the college spokeswoman who always criticizes you? Or the campus police chief who doesn’t welcome your analysis of crime statistics? Or the student who just lost a loved one to combat or a tornado? Learn how to do these interviews while respecting your subjects — and yourself. Room: Liberty 1&2.
What stifles your writing voice?
Your humble blogger is leading a session at the National College Media Convention next month on the writer’s “voice,” especially in narrative storytelling. I want to focus on what STOPS so many writers from turning in a story like this:
Take two steps to avoid opinion page disaster
A college newspaper I admire is taking a minor public relations beating at the moment over a faulty opinion column. Two steps would have spared the editors this unpleasantness– two steps I often see missing in college media opinion writing and editing.
- Label opinion. Prominently. Explicitly. On all platforms.
- Apply journalistic standards. “Facts” in opinion writing must be facts. Fairness is still a requirement.
