By now, those following journalism know that Gannett has asked its employees to take a one-week unpaid leave in order to save the company money.
I was thrilled to see my local Gannett paper, The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, mention Gannett CEO Craig Dubow’s salary — $1.2 million in 2007–in its story about the unpaid leave.
Arguing that the individual freelancer will gain more power, Andy Dickinson predicts 2009 will be the “Year of the Journalist” . His argument is, of course, more complex than that and is definitely worth a read.
I certainly hope he is right. So many talented journalists are out there looking for work, and we need their skills and insight. I have a bumper sticker from The Newspaper Guild on my office door that says “Democracy depends on journalism.” So true, yet in this day of journalistic uncertainty, also so scary.
I can’t believe it. I toured the Chicago Tribune last summer and thought it was a model for what newspapers need to be in today’s world. It had an online operation in its main newsroom along with a small TV “studio” (a camera, a screen, a chair) where reporters could do broadcast interviews or reports.
Now I read that the Tribune Co. is considering Chapter 11. So sad.
Following up on yesterday’s debate about the fate of newspapers, I had some of my journalism students get in groups and consider what they would suggest if they were to attend some kind of “Manhattan Project” designed to save newspapers, as Martin Langeveld suggested.
Here are a few of the groups’ ideas:
* “Get public input and make the topic of saving newspapers official, not just scattered on blogs.”
* “A web site for the ‘Manhattan Project’ where innovative and ‘young’ journalists can collaborate and voice their opinions”
* “Take papers away for a week–see how much outrage (or not) there is” (That could be scary. What if there were very little outrage?)
* “Pop-up newspapers–put art/craft things in there”
* “Cheaper editions of papers, with ‘paper boys’ selling these editions on the street for 25 cents”
* “Sell sections separately” and make newspapers “more like a book or magazine”
Several of the groups thought it would be a good idea to have some kind of a “reward system” for newspaper readers. One group suggested, “If you read newspapers, you turn it into a company, get a prize, recycle — like Pizza Hut Book It.”
One response that I as a former newspaper reporter who still loves to get the ink on my hands am having trouble bringing up follows:
“Let it die! The Internet is taking over. Sell ads online.”
Bloggers are taking on the American Press Institute’s “crisis summit” on the future of newspapers and one can only hope that in the end the winner will be news consumers.
API’s summit, “Saving an Industry in Crisis,” ended with no real plan or ideas — except to meet again in six months. That no-solution solution got on several bloggers radars–and under their skins. (See Martin Langeveld, Steve Outing, and Kristufek’s We Media.
I’m going to ask my convergence journalism students tomorrow what ideas they would take to a Manhattan project. I’ll let you know the results tomorrow.
journajunkie 