March Teletraining, Today’s Journalism : What it takes to survive and thrive in the business
March 16, 2015
Given budget cuts, rapidly changing technology and the overall upheaval in the news business, what does it take for journalists to survive and even thrive? Our panel will address the mentality needed to navigate change, the importance of being entrepreneurial about your career, and ways to develop your own individual brand. We’ll also discuss strategies for leading change and leading other journalists through change. This promises to be a frank and thought-provoking discussion laced with helpful takeaways.
Listen to the the call: March 16, 2015
| Playback Dial-in Number: | 1-619-326-2753 | ||
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Moderator:
Becky Bisbee. Becky joined The Seattle Times as business editor in August 2000. She previously served as business editor at The Austin American-Statesman and The Modesto Bee. She has been a member of SABEW since 1990 and served on the board of governors for 10 years.
Panelists:
Gregory Favre. Gregory, former executive editor of the Sacramento Bee and vice president of news at The McClatchy Company, is the newly appointed editor of CALmatters. CALMatters will launch this spring as a new, non-partisan, non-profit media venture producing public interest journalism focused on California State politics and government. CALmatters will be supported entirely by philanthropy and will provide the content it produces, free of charge, through existing media organizations and on its own Web site. Gregory is also past president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the California Society of Newspaper Editors. Most recently, he is a distinguished fellow of journalism values at Poynter Institute, a global leader in journalism. Gregory recommends these three books:
- “What Great Bosses Know,” by Jill Geisler
- “First, Break All the Rules,” by Jill Geisler
- “The Practice of Adaptive Leadership,” by Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky
Glenn Hall. Glenn is the U.S. Editor of The Wall Street Journal, where he oversees coverage of economics, politics and regulations, along with crime, courts, education, real estate and general news. Previously he served as editor in chief of MarketWatch, a leading online financial news site that is part of the WSJ Digital Network. His previous roles included managing editor of TheBlaze, editor in chief of TheStreet, chief innovation officer of the Orange County Register and politics and government news chief at Bloomberg. Hall has been a SABEW board member since 2011. Glenn recommends journalists to keep tabs on the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard to stay abreast of innovations in journalism.
Join groups on Linkedin and follow technology and journalism leaders. This is an easy way to stay on top of the latest trends and expand your network. Some groups to use as a starting point are SABEW (of course!) Linkedin for Journalists, Online News Association, Social media Directors Network and Web Editors.
In terms of good, old-fashioned books worth reading, I recommend:
“The First 90 Days” by Michael Watkins, who offers a systematic approach to help people succeed in a new job or role. It’s written for new leadership roles, but I think the approach is useful in any new role.
“Contagious: Why Things Catch On” by Jonah Berger, a Wharton professor who systemically studied what causes people to share content. Whether you consider yourself socially savvy or a recovering Luddite, this book will help you understand how to better connect with your audience in the digital age. You’ll likely appreciate, as I do, that many of the triggers he reveals are very much aligned with some of the best principles of great journalism.
Greg McCune. Greg McCune is a former president of SABEW who has been a business journalist, newsroom manager, writer and teacher in his long career. Currently a copy editor at the Associated Press in Chicago and journalism instructor at Northwestern University’s Medill journalism school, he previously held eight different reporting, editing and training roles during a three-decade career with Reuters. They included Midwest General News Editor, Training Editor, Washington Bureau Chief, Chicago Bureau Chief and Canada Chief Correspondent. He began his career as a commodities and agriculture reporter and has covered a host of issues from international trade to commodity markets and statistics. Greg recommends journalists to:
- Follow the Talking Biz News blog by Chris Roush at UNC. (http://talkingbiznews.com/) Just glance at it once a day to see what is happening in our particular neck of the journalism woods.
- Follow the Columbia Journalism Review twitter feed. They have wonderful blogs/columns about behind-the-scenes things that happen or new things that might transform what you do.
- Follow on Twitter a guy named Andy Carvin, who heads a new startup called reported.ly. Andy believes that media corporations are using social media primarily as a PR mechanism for our stories and not even scratching the surface of using it as a reporting tool.
Questions about teletraining? Please contact Mary Jane Pardue at MJPardue@MissouriState.edu or Kimberly Quillen at kimberly.quillen@arizonarepublic.com.
Presented as a member service by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.
