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8/27/2008 10:11:16 AM | 
By Sidmel Estes-Sumpter, MF 2000
When I volunteered to be part of the McCormick Fellows committee that would plan some kind of presentation for the Unity convention in Chicago, I had no idea that it would eventually be one of the most fulfilling and meaningful projects I have ever done. I know that sounds a little grandiose, but that's the only way I can describe my ten-month journey that led to the presentation of Kerner Plus 40: Change or Challenge that was aired as part of the opening plenary for the historic convention. I told several of my colleagues on the morning that the session was held that it felt as if I had given birth a third time. We had gone through so many challenges, euphoria, tensions and pleasures in the preparation of this project that it rapidly became a labor of love.
The McCormick Fellows wanted to make a big statement at Unity and it seemed only natural to tie in to one of the biggest anniversaries in the annals of journalism...the 40th anniversary of the Kerner Commission Report on Civil Disturbances in the United States. That report pointed fingers directly at the nation's newsrooms as a sort of co-conspirator that contributed to the racial malaise and frustrations that permeated our country. We thought the convention would be a perfect teachable moment for the young journalists who don't have a clue about the Kerner report, much less the riots that ravaged our cities in the 60s and 70s. We also thought it was a good time to assess the progress that has been made in the past 40 years to address the problems outlined in the report. We decided that we would talk to several of our Fellows and news pioneers who were in the trenches during this extraordinary time in America.
This project was also very therapeutic for me as I was approaching the second year of my transition out of a traditional newsroom into my own journalistic entrepreneurial efforts. I was going through an extremely rough time, making the adjustment from life in corporate America to a life of hustling every day to make a living. I couldn't have asked for a better project, a better team of people to work with or a nobler cause to help me go through my reinvention.
One of my first interviews was with Chicago broadcasting icon Warner Saunders. He warmly welcomed us into his office at WMAQ where he has worked for decades. I was mesmerized by the tales of abuse, struggle and triumph that he told me. I could feel my heart go into my throat when he looked me in the eye and said, "Sidmel, I've never talked about these things before." Then I remember sitting on the porch in front of the Louisville home of former Courier-Journal editor and fellow NABJ past president Merv Aubespin. We sat outside drinking mint juleps as one of his neighbors stopped by to talk about upcoming neighborhood parties. I later found out that the neighbor was one of the richest men in Louisville, heir to a family fortune, and he lived just two doors down from Merv. I remember thinking that would have never happened 40 years ago. That reality became even clearer when Merv drove me through the burned out communities and boarded up houses that have never been replaced when they were burned down during the riots. It looked like a vast wasteland. I remember thinking, "the more things change, the more they remain the same."
Perhaps one of the most eye-opening revelations was a consistent theme spoken by most of our Fellows who were interviewed, that while we have made substantial progress since Kerner, we still have a long way to go. Our McCormick Fellows are living testimonies about how far we have come. We are sales managers, managing editors, executive producers, assistant news directors and in a variety of top-level management positions. However, most of those interviewed said that news organizations are still controlled and led by old, white men who interpret the news through their prism. But that perspective is not valid in today's America and I believe is a huge contributing factor to the troubles facing the news industry today. Not only have we failed to take full advantage of the technology revolution, but news organizations have failed to deal with the "new America" with all of its diversity, just like news organizations didn't "get it" 40 years ago when our country was described as two Americas... one black and one white.
Seventeen hours of interviews, 23 interview subjects, countless hours of transcriptions, dubbing, pre and post-production, scripting and editing resulted in the 15 minute video that we now call Kerner Plus 40. As you can imagine, there are countless stories from our news pioneers that were left on the "cutting room floor." I hope that we will find some way to bring those stories to you because we have captured history. The stories that they told, in many cases, have never been shared before and if we don't capture them now, they will be lost forever. That is the beauty of the McCormick Fellows program. We brought history to life and we must never let it die. | | [View Comments (0)] | |
7/28/2008 12:27:11 PM | 
By Mark Russell, MF 2003
Most newspaper redesigns have a few things in common: better storytelling, bolder design, more conversational headlines, and easier navigation.
The Orlando Sentinel, where I've been managing editor for nearly four years, launched a closely watched redesign on June 22 that sought to go far beyond its past redesigns. We wanted to showcase more alternative story forms -- such as Q&As, in-their-own words accounts and briefing-style reports -- to make the our content more compelling and accessible for time-starved readers. We also wanted to tell stories from a visual perspective, using charts, graphics, and maps to better explain the news and help draw in readers. One example: we now run maps with the scannable digests of news from the world, nation and region.
And we also wanted to highlight more voices, including staff bloggers, columnists and, especially in the editorial page, readers. Some of our signature columnists sometimes now appear on Page One instead of of their usual section-front homes. And, in a big departure from the Sentinel of old, we now run an editorial cartoon on Sunday's Page One and offer a guide to opinion columns in that day's paper. All of these features run in the space just below the nameplate in a spot we've come to call the promotional "shelf."
The changes extended to the editorial page, a bastion of traditionalism at most papers. We put more visual emphasis on the key opinions, now labeled "What we think" for our editorials, "What they think," for the op-ed columns and the views of others, and "What you think," when it's the readers giving their take.
The Sentinel is the first of the Tribune-owned newspapers to launch a more reader-focused redesign. But the Sentinel's redesign is not a template for the rest of Tribune papers. Our design fits our vibrant central Florida market. Other Tribune papers, including the (South Florida) Sun-Sentinel and Chicago Tribune, are taking different design paths.
Our design path started in early spring when the Sentinel's editor, Charlotte Hall, started talking about a redesign of the paper. Our work was still in its infancy when Tribune's corporate leaders signaled that they wanted the company's newspapers to be bold and aggressive in their design thinking. We were happy to take the challenge. We wanted Orlando to be viewed as a place of innovation, experimentation and smart risk-taking. Plus, we relished the chance to be first off the starting blocks with a redesign.
Almost immediately, Hall started peppering me, Bonita Burton, the AME/visuals, and other top editors with suggestions for the redesign and how the newsroom would need to change. Burton and her team began a series of long days of design work. It was the teamwork between visuals and the other teams that helped us shape a design within a few months.
These concepts evolved over several weeks, and we refined our ideas in at least a half dozen small, staff brainstorming sessions. An often-repeated question from reporters and editors centered on whether we would remain committed to doing public-service journalism and longer stories and projects? My answer was an unqualified yes.
Indeed, the redesign would help us pare down the space we give to routine court and crime coverage because we created a digest for such short items called Cops and Courts and On the Road, where we run traffic deaths and other calamities on the roads. While we need to do fewer government-process stories and rein in the lengths on those that we do, we remain committed to watchdog reporting of all kinds. And it was no coincidence that, on the Sunday debut of the redesign, we featured a Page One centerpiece by our NASA reporter on a rocket system that some engineers favor but space-center leaders don't want to see built over one their favor.
We also reached out to folks in other areas of the Sentinel for their feedback. Four top editors held a two-hour "open house" where we invited newspaper employees to see the nearly-finished redesign and ask questions.
All the while, we knew that a redesign would fall flat if we did not extend changes already under way in how we told stories. We also had to change our news meeting structure to support our storytelling and design goals. The upshot: we had to rethink some of the long-held cultural norms of the newsroom to support actions that would generate the content we wanted.
For starters, we changed our daily news-meeting structure, deciding to keep only the 10 a.m. news meeting. In place of the 3:30 news meeting, we now have two shorter meetings at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. At the early afternoon meeting, we check in to see if anything has changed from the morning meeting. And we'll get an early look at the developing Page One centerpiece design. At the later meeting, we intensively look at the front page design and the stories we've picked. We debate whether any late-breaking stories merit inclusion on Page One. And we do the same thing for the Local and Business fronts. And then we discuss what's coming for the following day's paper. Admittedly, we're still getting the hang of this new meeting structure and we may decide to change it still more. But it has helped us improve the planning of centerpieces. And, of course, we're still nimble on news and can change the front page if news warrants.
A centerpiece of our newsroom reinvention was doing more alternative story forms. Many editors now end most every conversation with reporters with a simple question: what's the best way to tell this story? Not surprisingly, the number of Q&As, pro and cons and first-person stories in the Sentinel have mushroomed in the last several weeks.
To be sure, we're in the early stages of our redesign and it will take some months before we determine whether the changes have moved the needle on readership and circulation. But we've already seen the needle move in the newsroom -- and it's a more nimble newsroom with better instincts for storytelling, design, graphics and headlines. | | [View Comments (0)] | |
6/4/2008 10:38:11 AM | 
By Shirley Carswell, MF 2004
It's amusement park season and one of my favorite rides of all time is the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh, where I grew up. The Jack Rabbit, built in 1921, is a rickety old roller coaster on wooden tracks, with a famous double-dip at the end that brings you out of your seat just enough to get your heart racing every time. The entire ride is over in a breathtaking 75 seconds, hence the name Jack Rabbit. Of course, coasters have gotten a lot fancier since the 1920s, moving at twice the speed and with way more twists and dips. But the Jack Rabbit is legendary, and I can't imagine Kennywood without it.
The last few months in the newsroom of The Washington Post have been a lot like riding the Jack Rabbit. In February, the company announced that there would soon be a new round of buyouts to shave payroll costs--the third in five years--and at the same time the paper named a new publisher. Uncertainty and fear began to build among the staff as everyone tried to guess who would get the early retirement offer and figure out what a new boss would mean. There was a kind of nervous excitement though, because things were clearly about to change, and in a big way. It was like slowly chugging up that first hill on a roller coaster. You're scared but, hey, this can't be too bad and it might even be fun. After all, others have survived it!
In early March, the details of the buyout package were released. To be eligible, you had to be age 50 or older with at least 5 years' service. That was the lowest threshold ever; the previous buyouts required 10 years' service and a higher minimum age. The company must really be desperate to shed employees, the thinking went. And even worse, the L word was actually used in the official announcement! If not enough people took advantage of the generous voluntary early retirement package, layoffs were a possibility, the new boss said, up high, in the lede! Things must be very, very bad, the tea leaf readers surmised. Layoffs had never been threatened before. Newsroom morale plunged as the names of those eligible began to trickle out. Some of the biggest names in the business were on the list, as were some lesser-known folks who quietly keep the place running. Now we were flying down the track at a dangerous speed, holding on for dear life. This was NOT fun, not fun at all!
As the new publisher, Katharine Weymouth, granddaughter of the legendary newspaper executive Katharine Graham, began making the rounds and meeting with staffs, we regained our composure and some sense of adventure. She assured nervous staffers that she shared the journalistic values of her grandmother and her uncle, CEO Donald Graham, and that she loved the printed newspaper as much as we all did, but that change was inevitable and overdue. She fielded endless questions about whether the staffs of the paper and the website would merge and what such a union would look like. She won over some of the most jaded journalists with her wit and openness. The mood seemed to lift. We began climbing again, jerkily at times, but definitely moving upward.
In early April, the newspaper was awarded six Pulitzer Prizes, including one for Public Service for a series that exposed gross mistreatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital. We had crept to the top of the summit, that point where you can see the whole amusement park below. We stopped there for a moment, seemingly suspended in time. People were cheering, waving and high-fiving each other! This was great! This is what journalism is all about, not just winning awards but righting wrongs, afflicting the comfortable, comforting the afflicted. We were riding high.
Then May arrived, and the deadline to accept the buyout came close on the heels of a grim quarterly earnings report. Things really were as bad as the March rumors suggested. Classified revenue tanked, and circulation continued to slide. Now we've begun the inevitable fall back to Earth as it becomes clear how profoundly the paper will be affected by the buyout this time around. In the next week, we will begin saying goodbye to more than 100 of our colleagues in the newsroom alone, many of whom will not be replaced. This time, as the bottom drops out, I know that we'll all leave our seats just a bit, and our stomachs will flip-flop as we shoot down the track, hearts racing, breathless and more than a little scared.
At Kennywood, as the Jack Rabbit comes out of that infamous double dip, whips around the last curve and heads into the station, riders usually begin clapping, partly in appreciation for the classic coaster that never disappoints, but also, I believe, because they're so happy to get back to the platform and solid ground.
You can bet I'll be cheering when this wild ride in newspapering turns the corner. Sadly, though, it won't be over as quickly as the Jack Rabbit so I'm holding on with both hands.
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5/14/2008 12:22:13 PM | 
By Bill Church, MF 2006
The 2008 American Society of Newspaper Editors' (ASNE) Census released in mid-April shouldn't have surprised anyone who has been following our industry.
Newspapers are hacking payroll (translation: jobs) with the same diplomacy that Simon Cowell dispenses to American Idol's wannabes: "You're not needed. Sorry."
The ASNE shared these findings in its news release about the census:
• Minorities account for 11.4 percent of supervisors in newsrooms. Among minorities, 22 percent are supervisors.
• The census showed that 423 newspapers reported no minorities on full-time staff - a number that has been growing since 2006.
• The first census in 1978 counted 43,000 full-time journalists of which 3.95 percent (1,700) were minorities. The 2008 survey counted 52,600 full-time journalists of which 13.52 percent (7,100) are minorities.
The percentage of minorities employed in daily newspapers actually increased compared with 2007, when 13.43 percent were in the work force, but that's a matter of math instead of progress. Daily newspapers lost 2,400 journalists since the 2007 census through layoffs, buyouts and attrition. One out of eight journalists who left the industry last year is a minority.
Put another way, that's 300 fewer minorities who are working as full-time journalists this year. For the first time since 2001, departures of minority journalists exceeded hires.
The troubling trend is how newspaper hiring hasn't kept up with the nation's changing demographics. One in three Americans is a minority. In newsrooms? One in seven journalists is a minority.
The minority population in the United States topped 100 million in 2006, according to U.S. Census estimates, increasing by about 14 million in six years. During that same span of 2000-06, newspapers hired 700 more journalists of color.
Imagine starting a newspaper with a circulation of 20,000 - and hiring just one reporter. That's essentially how our industry has reacted to the influx of minorities this millennium.
It would take an optimist in need of therapy to believe the trend will change.
Progress? Possibly, maybe. But, like Simon says, it's not good enough. Sorry.
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4/24/2008 4:12:11 PM |
By Sidmel Estes-Sumpter, MF 2000
I know I am jumping on the "Amen corner" bandwagon following Barack Obama's speech on Race in America. Everybody needs to read the full text of his brilliant speech and take away one major point. WE CAN NOT AND SHOULD NOT IGNORE THE ROLE THAT RACE HAS PLAYED IN THE FORMATION, CREATION AND CONTINUATION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY! It is literally astounding to me that some people are acting as if they are hearing the points Obama made for the first time. This is nothing new. What is new is that a presidential candidate made it plain. Let's not forget that former President Bill Clinton tried to open up a national dialogue on race during his administration without much success. I also blame my fellow journalists for not being bold enough to stand up and "speak truth to power." Perhaps it is because we don't really own or control the most powerful media outlets in the world that continue to give us a distorted view of the world.
I am having a flashback to the 60's when people wanted to make a difference and when people had the courage to speak openly and honestly. After the 60's, there was a clamp down on free speech and free thought. The McCormick Tribune Fellows are documenting what happened in a video I am preparing on what has happened in our nation's newsrooms 40 years after the issuance of the landmark Kerner Commission Report. That documentary will be premiered at the Unity convention this summer in Chicago. Just wait until you hear some of the incredible stories told by some of the pioneer journalists who went through the fire and opened the doors that many of us have now walked through. For years I had said that many of the issues associated with diversity are the result of the fact that we are too "scured" to speak up.
I was just a young child in elementary school when John F. Kennedy ran for president. But I still remember, to this day, the excitement and optimism that he generated in that campaign. He brought America to its feet. It was a new day for our country! I feel the same kind of thrill now with the Obama campaign. As a journalist, I try to step back and evaluate all the candidates and of course, don't get into endorsing anyone. But I just wanted to offer my evaluation. I was able to meet Senator Hillary Clinton face-to-face this summer when I produced the opening session for the National Association of Black Journalists convention. She was a part of the four-hour marathon that I was responsible for making work. Senator Obama was supposed to be part of that, but he couldn't make it to the convention until the following day. I remember meeting Sen. Clinton in the backstage area after she had a meet-and-greet with the officialdom of NABJ. The backstage area was full of wires and other tricky obstacles that are all part of a major production. To help guide the Senator from the hallway to the stairs leading to the stage, I held the Senator's hand. Secret Service men scrambled in front of us with small spotlights pointing to the potential traps that could have led to a disastrous fall for either the Senator or me. We made it to the bottom of the stairs without incident. While we were waiting for her introduction, I remarked to Sen. Clinton that I had met her husband years ago in another incarnation. I told her that I was the first NABJ president to bring a national presidential candidate to our convention (Bill) and that I was fortunate to be the first female NABJ president. I'm sure she saw the irony in that and she winked at me and said " Alright, Madam President!"
Her presentation was strong and bold in front of a room full of inquisitive Black folks. Senator Obama was just as entertainment and formidable in his presentation the following day. He even confronted the annoying issue of whether he is "black enough" head on with a joke about the fact that he was a few minutes late in arriving on stage. The rest of his presentation was dynamic.
But now, a few months have passed and several primaries later, it is clear that this year's election is going to be unlike any other. Who would have imaged just ten years ago that the primary candidates for the Democratic nomination would be an African American and a woman? That's how fast things are changing in the world. But I must tell you that I have never seen young people so galvanized, African Americans so energized and such a wave of change happening in our country in more than four decades!!! Perhaps, if Senator Obama is elected president or even the Democratic nominee, then our nation's news media will be forced to finally honestly, openly and boldly deal with the issue of race in America. And that's a good thing.
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4/17/2008 5:59:16 PM | 
By Eva Aguirre Cooper, MF 2002
It's no surprise that many of us have gone through restructuring after restructuring in an effort to either create more efficiency with less, or simply learn to do without certain support systems that budget cuts now dictate as non-essential. My world is no different. With more than twenty five years in the broadcasting business, I have learned to become a chameleon.
I started out my career in engineering because I figured there weren't many women in the field and I wanted to know how to work all those big clunky machines of the early eighty's when we still had two inch video machines. I eventually became a producer/director with PBS because I wanted to tell stories. From there I went to a production company serving corporate clients and realized I missed the broadcasting world.
Returning to television as Community Affairs Director with an NBC affiliate, I learned that I had to branch out and become more versatile. In the past ten years, I have worked towards becoming a valuable contributor to our news department trying to find a community approach to fit our brand of hard news. I also entered the world of sales and discovered not only a competence but some enjoyment for this aspect of our work. I learned quickly that as I generated revenue with our Community Business Partners this was making a valuable contribution to the profitability of the station. Marketing also became one of my responsibilities as I stepped in to assist for several years with a troubled department.
I experienced at least four or five cross departmental restructures at our station, either taking new responsibilities or finally giving them back to departments where they belong. Through this process, I have learned that I am capable of learning new skills I never thought I would have the opportunity to experience.
Now, I am once again facing another restructure which has even more challenges than in years past. The focus is to get back working primarily with community. I have helped build a unique brand over the years, "Connecting with Community", and my GM wants me to take it to a new level. This sounds great, right?
In this process, most of my previous responsibilities from other departments have been reassigned along with some staff that I oversaw for Marketing and Special Projects. What I once saw as my uniqueness and sense of value to work many sides of our station is gone and I need to once again prove that I can take my original department of Community Affairs to a new level working closely with our news department.
I am sure many of us have gone through cycles of restructuring, downsizing and budget cuts to the point where we ask ourselves "what is my new purpose? What do I really want to do?" We look around at our industry in both print and broadcast and see it trying to reinvent itself with the internet, drop in readers and viewers and younger talent taking our jobs for less money.
I am at a crossroad right now in my career. I love what I do and hope I come out of this current restructure feeling satisfied and valued. I recall our session at the last two McCormick gatherings in Chicago about re-inventing ourselves and taking that next step. There should be a support group for ex-media professionals moving on to the next journey. Perhaps our fellow colleagues are that support.
I know I have marketable skills that can take me to other job opportunities and perhaps a new career. I have seen many of our colleagues do it quite successfully. With the ability to adapt and change to our current needs, we are probably more skilled and talented than we realize, and we can do it under deadline. Restructuring can be a great opportunity to reinvent ourselves.
So, at this point, I move forward with the new direction at my station and will give it my best effort. At the same time, I am keeping my eyes open for my next journey and try to figure out what I really want to do next.
Changes, new risks, uncertain job climate and our changing industry are all part of my current path. I want to try and enjoy what I currently have in front of me and be thankful that I still have a job. If it is time to find a new career, a different job or an independent venture, I hope that I enjoy it as much as I have in my years as a broadcaster.
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4/17/2008 5:58:40 PM |  By Dorothy Bland, MF 2004
Learning is my major in life. That's why I thoroughly enjoyed the blogging exercise and discussion during the McCormick Tribune Fellows' Fall 2007 conference at Northwestern University.
When the discussion started, one colleague said, "You can make these things slant any way you want. That's not journalism."
That response sparked an interesting discussion about what journalism is. The newspaper executive talked about the importance of the First Amendment, journalism being a public trust and agreed that journalists are storytellers, too.
Well, if the truth be told, bloggers also are storytellers. In many cases, they open traditional media and the worldwide web to broader perspectives and lenses.
Within a half-hour of meeting some Chicago-area teenagers, several colleagues who had never blogged before and I became "students" and the "teachers" were the teens and college students. With sites such as www.blogger.com and www.wordpress.com, it's amazing how quickly you can get your point of view to the masses.
Interestingly enough some of the "teachers" weren't journalism majors. Two that I took lessons from were Sadia Nawab, a freshman anthropology major at Loyola University, and Jamil Garbutt, a 14-year-old computer entrepreneur who's a student at Currie High School.
Part of our assignment was to write about how teens are portrayed in the media. Sure, we've all seen the stereotypical images of teens who are obsessed with hip hop music, fashion and booty-shaking videos. However, I can also tell you I have first-hand experience with teens and young adults who live with cancer, volunteer at food banks, juggle working full-time while going to school, help raise younger siblings and take care of aging grandparents.
Based on my interaction with students from the youth lab and travel to six continents, I also can tell you there are many teens who are courageous, patient, kind and generous in the Chicago region and around the globe. More of those positive stories need to be told.
Having read a variety of college student blogs on topics ranging from AIDS to football this semester as a college professor at Florida A&M University, I see more exclamation points and misplaced commas than I'd like to admit. However, I also see a lot of passion for storytelling in a variety of formats. That's why I'm excited about the future of journalism, the media business and blogging.
In November 2007, about 2,000 bloggers gathered in Las Vegas for the first-ever BlogWorld & New Media Expo. Sorry, I didn't make the conference. Thanks to bloggers and web producers, you can check out highlights at http://blogworldexpo.com.
I'm encouraged and think others should be as well when you consider that research shows that more than 12 million American adults maintain blogs and there are more than 1.4 million blog posts daily.
The BlogWorld & New Media Expo attracted sponsors such as Yahoo, AOL, Fast Company and Microsoft's Zune. That's a clear sign that these companies see lots of potential growth and so should others in the media who are passionate about re-invention and connecting with people.
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11/1/2007 5:45:30 PM | 
By Denise Bates, MF 2005
Transferable Skills is described as non-job specific skills which can be used in different occupations. We talked about how some professionals leveraged these skills for success. But the question remains: Do Transferable Skills work as well for people of color?
I have always looked at taking the skills I developed from one job to see if I could use those experiences to pitch the next job... However, I am always hesitant about telling my story because it was so non-traditional that I never wanted to discourage young journalists on their track to success nor did I want my story discarded as irrelevant to their journey. But do I think there is a lesson in here somewhere.
I used to get extremely frustrated at where I was in certain places and times of my career. I would get that impatient feeling where you think you will just jump out of your skin if something great didn't happen soon. But I don't think I could have gotten *here* without using the transferable skills concept. In the early years, I started out as a junior accountant and transitioned to credit manager at my local television station in Indianapolis. Although I enjoyed the number crunching, my creative energy constantly overpowered me and I found myself searching for an outlet. I liked "pulling things together," to make events enjoyable to any given group. Others recognized that skill and would always want to include me on their volunteer committees. From fashion shows to art exhibits to community gatherings, I was building a repertoire as a producer without even knowing it. Producing events was just something that came natural to me. So when the opportunity for a special projects producer at my former TV station presented itself, I applied all of my education, relative work skills, and volunteer efforts to the pitch. What was there to lose? I would either be rejected or hired. Fortunately, the manager saw something in me, took a chance, and I took off. Because I produced short segments and public service announcements, I was constantly in touch with the non-profit sector and community organizations. I continued to learn and hone my craft as a producer while picking up relative skills in public and community affairs. This prepared me for the next position, Public Affairs Director, which in turn, prepared me for the job I have now. And when you think about it, you can see transferable skills all around you.
60 Minutes journalist extraordinaire Ed Bradley (1941 - 2006) taught 6th graders in Philadelphia while working nights (mostly for free) at WDAS-FM at the beginning of his career. I think that teacher-patience came in handy with his interviews. Restaurateur B. Smith was a model-turned-singer before building her media empire of books, magazines, and radio and television shows, as well as enterprising her brand in bed, bath and home furniture. You can see her fashion flair in everything she touches.
Carmen Smith, who went from ABC television in New York to VP of ABC Talent Development Programs in Burbank, is now Vice President of Global Diversity & Inclusion with Walt Disney Parks and Recreation. As a creative thinker, she was always able to think outside the box. "I consider myself a non-linear thinker and try to see how to look at things from a different perspective. It's about being flexible and knowing that you have that flexibility."
Vice President and General Manager for KWHY-TV, Araceli De Leon (MTF 2005) started her television career in the Engineering Department as an audio operator in San Antonio, Texas. She worked as a news producer, a sales account executive, and director of operations. She said she was glad she learned television from different angles. Learning the workings of an industry inside out is a great way to acquire transferable skills.
The media industry is witnessing a metamorphosis. The exodus has already begun with seasoned journalists leaving their positions and other media professionals that are just plain disillusioned with the business, which is no longer as usual. The model is changing, but that does not mean it is failing. There are new opportunities. Print is already showing signs of new life with a stronger presence on the internet. Broadcast is expanding their levels of disseminating media through digital channels, cell phones, and the internet as well. This shift can be a great opportunity for many journalists to "enlarge their territory" - to reach in and pull out the creative skills that are inside all of us.
Toni Laws, NAMME's Executive Director, sees it clearly. "I've always felt that it is important to regularly assess your skills/experience profile, layer that over where you want to go professionally and determine where there are gaps. As you do this you get a good handle on the skill from previous and current experiences that transfer or apply to other areas that you are interested in. As functions and responsibilities merge, you want to make sure that you can convey your ability to do a multiple of tasks that go beyond traditional boundaries. It's called job security and you want to make sure that it's you that survive--that is, if it fits into your game plan. Doing this make you the driver of your destiny not the casualty."
"The days of spending 30 years with a company and then heading off in the sunset to retirement with a pat on the back and a gold watch are over," said Marie Johns, retired Verizon executive who just recently, ran for Mayor of Washington, DC. Johns, who credits her success to her ability to effectively communicate, organize and manage people, continues to learn and apply new skills and knowledge as she goes along. She is now using those skills to strengthen non profit organizations that serve families in the DC community. "It is important for us to remember that we do not arrive at a career; instead, we are on a journey to develop our skills to maximize our contribution to society."
It may not be so much what your initial study was, but what you find and value along the way. Digging into those skills from the past, taking them out and holding them up to the light of day - you might find you can use many of those past skills to transfer to what is needed ahead. What can you take with you into this new media frontier? Who will be the next Marvin Zindler? Who will be the next Ed Bradley? Or - do we need another Zindler or Bradley? Does this morphed landscape require something different? If not passionate journalists such as these, what will the new trailblazers look like, and where will that trail take us? It's all blending, converging together into an amoeba that we haven't yet defined and all creative hands are needed on deck. It is an exciting time, and if we can keep hold of the rail, we'll be in for quite a ride.
THE BOOKS
What Should I Do With My Life [Po Bronson]
Reposition Yourself: Living Life Without Limits [T.D. Jakes]
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10/1/2007 5:39:44 PM |
By Denise Bates, MF 2005
Houston, TX - The end of July 2007 marked the end of an era at our television station. We lost a pioneer in the business, a 35-year veteran who set the standard for excellence in consumer affairs.
Marvin Zindler was legendary, a renaissance man. He didn't live by the rules much. But his legacy was one you couldn't ignore: He helped the "little people," he righted the wrongs. Best known as the colorful consumer reporter that unearthed the infamous Chicken Ranch in LaGrange, Texas, the story was the basis for the popular movie "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." Zindler achieved several "door-breakers" and earned himself an unheard of life-time contract with KTRK-TV. Just shy of his 86th birthday, he delivered his last report 2 days before he passed away. I mention Marvin Zindler not only because he was so remarkable, but because he was successful in transforming himself time after time.
Zindler started off as a night DJ and spot radio news reporter, then on to photographer and writer for the Houston Press before staging a stellar career in the Houston Sheriff's Department running the consumer fraud division. And it was the work he did there that prompted a call from the TV station, launching another career for him at the age of 51.
It was said that Zindler not only marched to the beat of a different drummer, he marched to the beat of a whole different band, and he set the standard for excellence in consumer affairs reporting. He self-created his status, and his transferable skills worked well for him.
My boss, KTRK-TV President and General Manager, Henry Florsheim, started in the film department of a TV station and broke my myth of thinking that the best GM's came from Sales. Henry worked his way to the top through the news department from producer to News Director at WABC-TV. How did he make the transition to General Manager? One, he said, was his inside advantage of already working with the company and understanding the culture, the other was being successful in managing the largest department in the station. He too was able to use transferable skills to his benefit.
So what are transferable skills? One definition describes Transferable Skills as "non-job specific skills which can be used in different occupations. You may have developed them through course work, jobs, internships, volunteering, or just plain life experience. By communicating your transferable skills effectively, you can enhance your marketability and open yourself up to a larger sector of the job market."
But do transferable skills work as well for people of color? I think they can.
Next month: Part 2 of Applying Transferable Skills by Denise Bates
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6/14/2007 5:37:50 PM |
By Mark Russell, MF 2003
Each day brings fresh news of still more job cuts, stagnant or declining revenue and transformation efforts in newsrooms. And, nothing in our
management training, whether formal or informal, has quite prepared us for this perfect storm clobbering our profit margins and taxing our
ability to deliver compelling journalism.
As the challenges mount, newsroom leaders should go on the offensive to build muscle to weather the inevitable next financial and operational storm. And, while you are at it, make sure you take care of yourself, find time for outside interests and stay connected to the communities you need to help drive readership.
For starters, you need to re-define your news organization's principal jobs and transform your staff to ensure that you have the right mix of people and resources focused on those areas. At the Orlando Sentinel, for example, we transformed our newsroom to get more breaking news, photos and video on the web. In January, we formed what is known as the A.M. Team, moving two reporters from traditional beats to web general-assignment reporting roles. The team's work on the web has been a hit with our audience, driving up early-morning page views at OrlandoSentinel.com and sending an unmistakable message to the rest of the newsroom: Leaders placed a high value on delivering news on the web. In late May, we added a cops reporter and a weather and transit reporter to beef up our online content.
Once you define the chief jobs key to the transformation, share the information widely
in your organization, taking special care to be accessible to the naysayers and staff veterans who can become your change agents. You may not overcome all of their resistance. But by being open, transparent and consistent with your message, you'll gain quicker buy-in from those who
embrace the changes. And, as a bonus, the aggressive messaging will likely prompt the people who can't or won't change to look for new jobs
elsewhere. You cannot overstate the message. Use the common ways -- the intranet, memos, small-group meetings and one-on-one talks. And consider setting up an "advisory group" of respected staffers who can help you spot problem areas before they become full-scale flameouts.
Four months ago the Atlanta Journal-Constitution launched a major newsroom restructuring, an effort nearing completion. James A. Mallory, the AJC's senior managing editor and vice president, says constant communication with the staff and being as transparent as possible are keys to success in any transformation effort.
Mallory says that AJC senior managers "tried from the beginning to give the staff as much information as possible and be open and honest." He noted the paper created a task force on internal communications that helped serve as a forum for people to ask questions about the hiring process. "It was instrumental in helping people understand the reorganization, especially the job application process," Mallory said, referring to the dozens of staffers who had to reapply for their old jobs or seek others in the reorganization.
At the Denver Post, Editor Greg Moore says his top managers are excited by the newsroom transformation under way there. I'm going to put
the skeleton of the plan out there and then invite senior managers to tear it apart, make additions and suggestions," said Moore, who announced this week (Monday, June 11) that more than 25 jobs would be lost through buyouts. "But we're not going back to the status quo. There are certain things, such as getting more breaking news on the
web. And we're going to do that. And we're going to do more watchdog and investigative reporting, and better coordinate photo and graphics in
the newspaper and online."
Once you share that vision, execute your plan and then have the system humming, you need to make sure you reward the people who are driving
the transformation efforts -- both those in the trenches and in the corner offices.
Use the tried-and-true methods of rewarding staff: Money, if you can still give the impromptu bonus; restaurant certificates; and gift cards to
retailers. At The Post, Moore says the newsroom will next month (July) start doling out weekly awards for the best visual, headline and story.
The award? A $50 gas card. "After seeing all of these changes, we decided we had to find ways to reward more people, more often," he said.
Yet some of the most memorable rewards remain the most basic: A senior manager taking a hard-working staffer to lunch; a thoughtful, handwritten note of praise; and even giving someone the gift of time off, a day or two off to create a long weekend, for extraordinary work or leadership. Who would not remember a gift like that?
Whatever you do in doling out rewards, do it boldly. The more people in your group who hear about your action, the more you drill into folks
that you recognize hard work and visionary thinking.
Apart from the work obligations (and there are many), you need to also keep up your outside commitments, whether it's a cherished hobby, a
mentoring relationship or just finding regular time to get away from the office to recharge the battery and refresh your perspective. I find that
I do my best thinking on the golf course, even when I am hitting my worst shots and spending way too much time looking for balls in the woods. Whether it's cooking, traveling or reading novels, recapture your outside passion and stick with it.
What methods have you used to reward your people and keep staffers focused on your strategic goals? Share your best examples and we'll learn from each other.
Russell is managing editor of the Orlando Sentinel and a 2003 McCormick Tribune Fellow. | | [View Comments (0)] | |
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