Visual Editors
Visual Editors, NFP was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2004.
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Mike Braun
Contributing editor
Joined: 10 Jul 2004
Posts: 193
Location: Fort Myers News-Press
Posted:
Sat May 26, 2007 7:52 pm
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So, how do you change hearts and minds in the newsroom when the "traditional" journalists disdain change? How can you make headway when any movement for a change, be it hyperlocal, online emphasis, whatever, is met with derision and animosity on the grunt level? Those in charge of the grunts are even worse, saying one thing to the powers that be and deriding the changes to underlings. Anybody who shows the slightest interest in trying something different, or who doesn't immediately knock the company idea, is seen as "drinking the Kool-Aid." The problem is, there are a lot of young impressionable journalists who look up to the older ones. Leading by example is fine, but the uphill battle can be frustrating and demoralizing some days.
Saying something to upper mgmt doesn't help, the ones in question tell them something different when they are asked about it. Almost makes it look like the ones who favor the change are mewling idiots.
Anyone else face these odds???
_________________
What's a pica among friends?
Last edited by Mike Braun on Sun May 27, 2007 10:20 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Clif Page
Maestro
Joined: 09 Mar 2004
Posts: 875
Location: Beaver County Times, Beaver, PA
Posted:
Sun May 27, 2007 10:07 am
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All day, every day.
Change has become a mantra that will echo for a year or two, then die away until the next chrisis.
When a company changes midstream to different values and goals, the key is always creating acceptance among the worker bees before making the change.
My guess is that change has been dictated rather than accepted.
Jobs in journalism have always been filled by people who are both smart and skeptical. They need to be bright enough to see and understand changes in communities. And that leaves us with two types of people — one group can report really well, and the other group understands the technology.
You said:
| Quote: | | Those in charge of the grunts are even worse, saying one thing to the powers that be and deriding the changes to underlings. Anybody who shows the slightest interest in trying something different, or who doesn't immediately knock the company idea, is seen as "drinking the kool-aid.". |
BINGO.
This will, most likely, not continue unless the grunt-bosses can validate their actions, or are related to someone important.
Heck, in a business as personal like journalism, it is as much what you know as who you know.
And since it is a registered trademark, capitalize Kool-Aid.
I drink nothing but water in the office.
_________________
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
Douglas Adams |
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Mike Braun
Contributing editor
Joined: 10 Jul 2004
Posts: 193
Location: Fort Myers News-Press
Posted:
Sun May 27, 2007 10:32 am
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OK, Clif, I updated the title and my text, good point. I guess what I posted was borne more out of frustration than anything else. And, it's not even an issue of smart and skeptical. Some of these naysayers want things to be as they were 10 or 15 years ago. They can't fathom that our biz is all about change. What we did 10-15 years ago was once viewed with alarm and regret by some in our biz who were used to the way things "were" before that change happened. (remember the newspaper composing room? At my previous paper they were convinced pagination would never become a force. Have you SEEN a composing room worker lately?)
My issue is as our shared buddy Doug Jessmer is fond of pointing out. Local coverage is where newspapers can kick ass and we need to support that thinking. Focusing on online and working to cover the news via a different set of parameters isn't something to fear, it will likely eventually save us. Even if it doesn't, we need to explore these areas. I'm one of those "older" journalists, 52, been in the biz 30+ years, but I do NOT see this as a threat, I don't see this as worthless, and I welcome a chance to learn new things and try to disseminate the news over new platforms. It is ALL about covering the news, no matter the delivery method.
And it really isn't so much about dictating change. When you accept to work for someone, when you agree to provide them labor and ideas in exchange for a paycheck, THEY get to set the rules. You don't like, you change bosses and find someone who has a set of rules you can abide by.
Heck, I don't really LIKE Kool-Aid anymore, but I can smell the coffee, and the brew gives me a little bit of hope that we can salvage what's become of our shrinking profession.
Thanks for posting your two cents Clif
_________________
What's a pica among friends? |
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charles apple
Superhero
Joined: 09 Mar 2004
Posts: 3734
Location: Norfolk, Virginia
Posted:
Sun May 27, 2007 11:38 am
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Interesting question, Mike. The sad answer is: It ain't easy.
And what's even sadder is: The kinds of changes that we newspaper designers are asking the old-school folks to make are tiny, compared to the wholesale changes coming down the pike, such as the 24-hour newsroom and real, live convergence. Or whatever buzzword we're using these days that means convergence.
As far as winning over those old-school types, it simply ain't gonna be done overnight. Which is unfortunate for us impatient-types.
I've not written on this subject for quite some time. And perhaps this would be more appropriate as a blog entry. But since you asked...
When I first broke into the design/graphics part of this field, back in the mid-to-late 1980s, I ran into a lot of the kind of resistance you mention. I asked a lot of very wise people and I spent a lot of time thinking about it.
Finally, I had to ask: What is the reason for the resistance? I needed to see the opposition point-of-view from its perspective.
A lot of these folks got into journalism not as a business, but as a calling. They liked the public-service aspect of our field. They know it's not a high-paying business, but they felt they were called to do this for a living. They may have become jaded or burned out over the years, but they have a lot of pride in the newspaper business and they dislike -- intensely -- what they see as a change in priorities or a shift in values of the business, away from news, content and narrative and toward flash, decoration and fluff.
Which is why you hear so many of these folks talk trash about USA Today. To them, it was all muzzle flash and no ammo. Which is 100 percent wrong -- USA Today represented a new way of approaching journalism and a visual way of presenting information. But these guys didn't see it that way. They saw it as a threat to the business they loved. And perhaps to the business in which they had grown a little too comfortable.
So to them, any graphics was "too much like USA Today." Any design issue is "taking away from the journalism." Any time spent on brainstorming visuals is "distracting me from my job."
And because I started out as a reporter myself -- I wanted to be a sports columnist, believe it or not; my primary role-model was Lewis Grizzard of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- once I identified the reason for the resistance, I found it pretty easy to empathize with these folks.
Okay, that was a big step. What next?
First, I had to understand this wasn't going to happen quickly. I was going to have to prove myself -- as well as the field of visual journalism -- to these folks, one reporter and one editor at a time. It was going to be slow, slow going.
Secondly, I was going to have to prove to them that I can give them graphics and design work that did not lessen the standards of journalism; that did not patronize the reporter, the editor or the reader. If I was going to embark on this crusade, I'd have to have much higher standards for my work than what I was currently doing.
And, moreover, I'd have to make it clear to these folks that I'm not an interloper on their turf. I'm a colleague. And I'm here to help them tell their stories. If my visual didn't help tell the story, or, if it took away from the story, or if it caused the story to have to be cut more than a reasonable amount -- well, then, we'd change the visual. It was important for these folks to not feel defensive whenever they dealt with me.
Y'see, it's basic human nature that a person won't have a learning experience when he's feeling defensive. So if I could be disarming enough to put the editor or reporter at ease, then I'm much more likely to teach them something about visual journalism. Or to sell an idea. Or, at the very least, to plant the seeds of an idea that will bear fruit later.
But being non-threatening was a big part of it. I always had trouble with that. Being a large (6-foot-1; 300+ pounds) guy -- and naturally loud -- sp,e folks tend to be threatened by me anyway. My job would have been so much easier if I were a short, skinny, quiet guy.
Aahhhh, who am I kidding? No it wouldn't have. But you see my point.
So, anyway, that's what I did. I approached folks one-on-one. Sometimes I'd build graphics "on spec" -- here's what I propose; if you don't like it, we don't have to run it. Yeah, we killed some work on occasion. But you'd be surprised at how many reporters were delighted they were given a choice. We made it their call. They felt a part of the process -- and not like graphics were being jammed down their throats.
And sometimes, I did my own reporting work. Thank God I was qualified. I used to spend a lot of time in libraries and bookstores until the heavens parted and a ray of sunshine touched the Earth and -- boom! -- the internet was created. That's certainly made life a lot easier for me.
But you wouldn't believe how fast these reporters would say "yes" to an idea, when I offer up a sketch and then offer to do all the additional reporting myself. It was like I was offering to be their assistant on the story. If I gave them final approval rights -- before we sent it to the copy desk, I mean -- they'd light right up.
So that worked with a lot of folks.
One of the biggest "aha" moments in my career came when I had been at the Raleigh News & Observer about a year. We had one of our big investigative reporters working on a story about the state of the state's bridges -- North Carolina wasn't spending enough road money on bridge upkeep, and bridge inspection reports were showing some real trouble spots.
Our reporter had requested help with numbers graphics and I had made myself available to him. But I had also suggested some bigger graphics -- how about a cut-away of a bridge, showing how and why they deteriorate? How about a map, showing which counties had the worst problems? He seemed rather cool to these ideas.
So after working the data angle for weeks, he was ready to go out and do some field reporting. He had a list of every poorly-rated bridge in Wake County. He planned to spend two days driving around and looking at every one. He was stunned when I offered to go with him.
"It's going to be grungy," he said. "We'll get muddy."
I told him I didn't care. Let's do it.
And so we went out. We bonded on that trip. The guy didn't see me as a threat to his work -- or, more importantly, to the space he needed to tell his story.
In fact, at one stop, we were looking at a bridge piling that had an enormous vertical crack all the way down its side. I noticed that if you stood in a particular spot, you could see the crack in all it's glory -- and behind it, you could see the skyline of Raleigh. "This is your lead photo, right here," I told him.
So he put in a photo request. Sure enough, that's what we used on A1 when the story ran.
By the time we were done, the reporter was sold on my idea for a science piece -- especially since I promised him it wouldn't cost him any more effort and that I could have it done quickly enough so he wouldn't have to hold his story. He introduced me to his contacts in the bridge engineering division of the state DOT. I interviewed the folks and borrowed some blueprints.
The result? A nice, full-page graphic. In fact, the graphic won me my first SND award. I made sure the reporter's name was on the entry. He was very pleased, a year later, when he received his own certificate from SND.
For years after that, the reporter would come to me with ideas for graphics. I'd bend over backwards to make them work. And when I had ideas, he'd drop what he was doing and listen to them. I was no longer a threat to him. I was a colleague.
And because he was quite influential in the newsroom, he spread his opinion around. Hey, this guy is alright. Work with him. Heck, go downstairs to the graphics department and ask for him.
That one guy opened a lot of doors for me. Thanks to repeated successes, I eventually moved to the Chicago Tribune. And eventually into management -- in Des Moines, and now here.
Granted, all this happened many, many years ago. Show me a word person now who doesn't or won't deal with design issues, and I'll show you someone who's been sheltered way, way too long. The issues now aren't graphics and design and why we have to have art to make a story a centerpiece. The issues NOW are: How are we going to make money with no profits from classified? How are we going to present your story onine? How are we going to free you up two days to drive around and look at bridges when we're laying off people and not filling positions?
And I'm not even sure my method will work anymore. My method took patience and time. I'm not the most patient person, but because I was in my 20s and early 30s -- and I had no real career ambition -- I saw no reason why I had to rush things.
But now, we seem to be under an enormous pressure to change, and to change rapidly. Either you catch on or you die. Managing change is a lot more scary now than it was ten or twenty years ago. And if I told you I know how to do it today, in this environment. I'd be lying.
The one person who I've heard -- repeatedly -- talk about managing change and how to change attitudes in the newsroom is Monica Moses. She's the best. After she went to Minneapolis, seems like her presence at SND pretty much tapered off. And now, she's no longer in journalism.
Come back, Monica. We need you.
[EDIT: And in the time it took me to type all this, a couple more posts were added to this thread and even the title changed. Still, I hope this helped -- even if just by empathizing.]
_________________
-Charles |
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Mike Braun
Contributing editor
Joined: 10 Jul 2004
Posts: 193
Location: Fort Myers News-Press
Posted:
Sun May 27, 2007 1:10 pm
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Now, Charles, THAT'S what I'm talking about!
You know the problem. And I have tried to do the things you mentioned. Works for some, not others.
The problem comes with the ones who are burned out but cling to the hope that the 70s will return. I actually had a copy desk manager tell me recently (within the past year) "Designers are a dime a dozen, we need more copyeditors" and "Nobody ever bought the paper because it looked 'pretty.'" Talk about taking my job and pretty much tossing it in the can, man.
This guy, and several of his cohorts (he actually started in the biz the same year I did) don't want to hear "local." they don't want to see wire stories pushed inside (despite that we get clobbered daily on timeliness for ANY wire story that doesn't break immiedatly on our cycle, even those that do aren't fresh when we publish), they cling to hope that we can go back to the day that there was no USA Today, no CNN, no FOXNEWS, nothing but three networks and a radio station here and there.
WON'T HAPPEN. But, you can't tell or show them that. THAT'S what is frustrating. I can show them, nicely and with a smile on my face, why it is so. They refuse to believe, tell me I've drunk the Kool-Aid and go on about how we';re destroying the newspaper. They point to the declines in circ as proof, not believing that the old type of newspapering is just as culpable for the decline.
Thanks for your thoughts Charles. I guess I was just spouting off on a Sunday. Need to let off steam once in a while just to make what we do less frustrating. Of course, helps to have, in my corner, a guy like Javo.
Cheers
_________________
What's a pica among friends? |
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