Can We Create a Virtual Newsroom?

For far to long now, the newspaper industry has been content to follow the ground rules laid out by visionaries outside of our industry. We have let others dictate the rules of the game for us and we've been willing to settle for whatever rules have been thrust upon us. I would submit that when the rules no longer benefit you and in fact they become a shackle around your ankles; it is either time to get out of the game or it is time to change or make-up new rules. That is where newspapers are today, it is either time to start changing the rules of the game quickly or it is only time before our demise is complete.

My last post dealt with some of the changes we are contemplating in our circulation department. This post acts as a follow-up to a question I submitted on LinkedIn to fellow newspaper executives throughout the country. Bear in mind, this is a work in progress and will be an ever-changing target, a few of the thoughts here have been contributed by some of the many that responded to my questions previously.

Let me preface this with a few statements I believe to be true.

1) Without some major donors willing to throw money at it with no real return other than goodwill (which may happen in a few markets), the current newsroom model is unsustainable at best and is but a few years away from extinction.

2) Not only is the current newsroom model unsustainable, the current newsroom model is also one of the major drags on the entire business model and will spell the demise of the entire industry if nothing changes quickly.

I don't believe anyone under-estimates the importance of the newsroom, after all without content, there would be nothing in which to place ads around. That said, we have to question if the content we currently provide is not only the right content, but is it gathered in the most efficient manner. That said, what are the questions we need to ask? Here are a few:

Let's start with a real controversial issue, do we have to be fair and balanced? Maybe it is only me, but most National media has not been fair and balanced for about as long as I can remember. Sure, most try and present facts, but usually only the facts that further their world view at the time. CNN is who they are, FOX is who they are because they tell people listening to them what those people want to hear to substantiate their world view. Readers don't want to be told how wrong they are all the time, they want to be told things that reinforce their view of the world. If I am a newspaper in a red state, maybe it makes sense to write in such a way as to appeal to our readers, the same holds true of a newspaper in a blue state. The bottom-line, if you are blue state newspaper in a red state, you will lose readers and subscribers over time faster than the normal circulation declines may be; you can bank on that. Maybe that is also why local citizen journalists when found seem to do so well; they are the look and feel of the community they write about. Now on to less dramatic issues.

How should we measure and compensate our newsroom? For to long, we have avoided solid metrics or measurements. How is it that a writer can produce 200 inches a week on average in one market and only 40-50 inches in another? Granted, each market and beat offers varying opportunities, however we still have to fill space with quality content. Why shouldn't each writer have a set space to fill each day or week and then be expected to fill it? If all else fails, they can produce a little enterprise to make ends meet. Yes, measuring by the inch is fraught with pitfalls, but measuring by the inch can be a powerful tool if coupled with quality measurements as well. I realize I may get shot for this, but what if just like a real estate agent, writers/reporters leased seats in the newsroom and were then compensated for the quantity and quality of their work? Talk about an increase in production!

When will we start utilizing 'Citizen Journalists' to a great extent? The website www.ohmynews.com in South Korea was built around the concept of citizen journalism. This online only product was so successful, they spun off a print product that became the 4th or 5th largest newspaper in the country in less than 4 years. When it comes to local content, there is nothing more powerful than fellow citizens providing local content. Sure there are issues of consistency, editing, legal and so forth, but the cost for citizen produced content is pennies on the dollar compared to what we produce and the readership is oftentimes much greater. Not to mention, you really have those same issues with employees, just a tad more control over it; but I suspect that control is what most Managing Editors like.

When will we actually only use 'Multi-Platform Journalists' and nothing else? The days of being only a writer need to end and they can't end to quickly. Our writers/reporters need to be writing, snapping the pictures, taking the video, blogging, twittering, and doing 90% of their own editing. Let's compensate them for interest; are people following them on their blogs and is the story getting clicks online? Was a picture or video submitted with the story or feature? Did they write a short and long version of the story, one for the web and one for print?

How should we compensate Managing Editors? Every position in our companies, including the newsroom should be heavily compensated with a performance based metrics. Salaries ought to be low and the at-risk portion of the compensation high with excellent levels of reward for those great ones. Compensate them on the number of quality contributing citizen journalist inches, compensate them on the online traffic to the newsrooms stories and newsroom generated blogs. Compensate them on the production of those in the newsroom with the bar being raised dramatically and the expectations being high. Have a staggered base where half or more is at risk if the above and other objectives aren't met. They are the team leaders, without their push, it will fail.

I could ask many additional newsroom questions, but the intent isn't to address or provide all the questions and answers, those questions and answers will certainly vary by property. One of the responses to the original question was by Bill Long when he said, "the nice part is that increased local content doesn't have to come from reporters working harder; just smarter and more efficiently. Most of this goes to planning and that starts with the managing editor."

Back to the title of this blog entry, can we create a virtual newsroom? It is my estimation that we can without any doubt in my mind create a virtual newsroom. With modern technology, stories can be filed by our writers, reporters and citizen journalists from anywhere in the world, the same goes for photo's and video, they can be edited by retired editors from home, pages can be laid out by stay-at-home moms on home computers, planning can be virtual as well. Managing Editors in a sense would become traffic cops coordinating the same things they do now, only in a different fashion and using different methods. Is this the answer to our current problem, maybe and maybe not. I suspect that somewhere in the middle is where we will find the common ground that allows us remain a viable newsroom and industry.

As we are working towards a total newsroom transformation here in Ottawa, I am very interested in comments and ideas, please comment or e-mail me directly with your thoughts.