ASNE Convention 2012 : journalism

Partnering with journalism schools

Amanda Knowles — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:03:00 GMT

By Varun Saxena

Communication and clarity of mission are the keys to a successful partnership, according to leaders of journalism schools and newspapers who spoke in a panel discussion Wednesday.

Northwestern University's students in the Medill News Service Washington program pitch a story to a media partner that falls within a prespecified beat, said Ellen Shearer, its director and bureau chief.

Beats have included national security and immigration. Partners range from McClatchy Newspapers to MarketWatch.

"Both sides need to understand each other's goals," Shearer said. "If you go in with different outcomes in mind, it can get tricky."

Martin Kaiser, editor and senior vice president of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, agreed, saying, "You just cannot emphasize enough how you need to overcommunicate."

Students at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication help the paper cover the Milwaukee Brewers during spring training by writing a blog called Peanuts and Cracker Jack.

It "gets kinds of things that we just wouldn't get otherwise from our own staff," Kaiser said.

The features include what players do while on the bus or their most embarrassing baseball moments, Kaiser said.

The students cover things that the regular fulltime staff doesn't have time to cover.

The students' youth is another advantage because it enables them to connect with players they cover, Kaiser said.

Sometimes they scoop the professionals.

They were the first to get the reaction of the girlfriend of left fielder Ryan Braun after his recent suspension for steroid use was dropped, Kaiser said.

Moderator Christopher Callahan, dean of the Cronkite school, said it is important that the partnerships be led by a faculty member who feels responsible for the quality of the content produced.

"Journalism schools do more than news," Shearer said.

Arizona State and Northwestern run experimental media laboratories that create apps and news products, some of which have been commercialized, providing another avenue for partnership with journalism schools.

Varun Saxena is a student at the University of Maryland. He is one of several local university journalism students reporting live from ASNE 2012 in Washington, D.C.

Small newsrooms, big journalism

Amanda Knowles — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:35:00 GMT

By Kara Rose

As the size of newsrooms dwindles, many news organizations have struggled to carry out their duties with meager staffs and limited resources.

Four top editors who have successfully used their smaller newsrooms to full potential addressed discussed how to do world-class reporting despite disadvantages in a 24-hour news cycle.

David Newhouse, editor of The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., said he looks at his newsroom as "a big dog in a small dog's body." The Patriot-News covers five counties, the state capital and Penn State University with only 19 full-fledged reporters and broke the news about the sexual assault case against former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky.

The key, Newhouse says, was enterprise journalism.

"We live, we think, we talk - literally, we breathe - enterprise every day," Newhouse said. Developing enterprise stories and finding original sources, he said, "makes best use of the staff cuts we are all facing."

Also on the panel were A.M. Sheehan, editor of the weekly Advertiser Democrat in Norway, Maine, and Mike Connelly, executive editor of the Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, Fla., who said his success started with building a "climate" in the newsroom, beginning with a "no distractions policy."

Connelly and Newhouse said being a "cheerleader" is one of the most important ways to set the proper newsroom climate. Another, Connelly said, is challenging your team, rewarding its victories and developing successors.

"You have to believe in your newsroom," Connelly said, adding that delegating downward inspires potential successors by "building their confidence and giving them room to grow."

Sheehan, who has a staff of two full-time reporters, said that although her readership is interested in "yesterday's news," her publication was still able to uncover a low-income housing scandal.

She stressed the importance of always knowing why her organization is reporting on a story in the first place, noting that time management, efficient writing and community cooperation made that possible.

The relationship fortified between the community and the publication is something Sheehan and other panelists found vital to their survival.

Manny Garcia, executive editor and general manager of El Nuevo Herald in Miami said going into the community builds readership and tips off reporters about underreported topics there.

He compared his newsroom model to that of a Ferrari - "a hot car built from the ground up." He said he seeks help from his staff to improve the publication's brand.

The panelists each ultimately emphasized high-impact journalism for their respective communities. These stories, Newhouse said, inspire enacted change.

"When you made an impact," he said, "... it has a ripple effect in the community."

Kara Rose is a student at the University of Maryland. She is one of several local university journalism students reporting live from ASNE 2012 in Washington, D.C.

How news consumption is being transformed

Amanda Knowles — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:18:00 GMT

By Sarah Hogue

Roger Fidler of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and Mike Jenner of the Missouri School of Journalism showed data indicating that news consumption is beginning to fall heavily into the electronic mobile medium.

In a survey of 1,015 people, Fidler said 57 percent of people who use tablets to view news do so on websites rather than apps. He said he expects use of news apps to gain popularity as they become streamlined and more interesting graphically.

Fidler said that 53 percent prefer reading the newspaper on a mobile device than in print and are beginning to take the electronic medium more seriously. They also still expect the same level of quality that print newspapers provide. Seventy-three percent agreed that professional journalists play a vital role in society, and 63 percent prefer getting news from them.

Although the majority of respondents use electronic media to view news now, 45 percent disagreed with the idea that in the next 10 years they will get all their news from mobile devices.

Jenner discussed growing use of digital news by newspapers. Now, 62 percent of dailies with a circulation of 25,000 or more have a mobile app, and 59 percent of the rest plan to get one, he said.

In terms of revenue, Jenner found that three-fourths of papers make 75 percent of their revenue from print. But he said he expects digital revenue to increase. He said he anticipated that tablets will be the primary revenue generator for digital content.

Sarah Hogue is a student at the University of Maryland. She is one of several local university journalism students reporting live from ASNE 2012 in Washington, D.C.