June 19, 2008Who hired this guy?So it turns out the "chief innovation officer" for one of the major newspaper chains in the nation didn't realize that newspaper reporters actually go to the places they're covering to report the news. That, at least, is the gist of a memo by Lee Abrams, who holds that title for Tribune Media Co., published by Romenesko. Abrams wrote: I met a reporter who spent 4 years in Baghdad. Dodging bullets...staying in Hotels protected by the Marines. Yet, I'll bet NO-one outside of the building knew this person was risking their life in Iraq to get YOU the news. If it were CNN, you'd see rockets and RPG's in the background as the reporter ducks shrapnel. In the paper, it's usually a small byline. Hell, papers should have photos of the reporter with Iraqi kids...be writing diaries. Before I joined Tribune, I had NO idea that reporters were around the globe reporting the news...Because the paper "assumed" I knew. Then I saw an article on Broadway shows. Again a small byline with no mention of "Reporting from New York". These are assumptions that are shooting ourselves in the foot. People DON'T know that you have REAL people exclusively reporting, because we ASSUME they do. My question? How many REAL reporters could Tribune hire if they weren't wasting money on this guy's salary? |
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Comments
[June 19, 2008 12:42 PM]
JoshMy question is how many reporters has the Roanoke Times sent to Iraq in order for Dan and the RT staff to have the skewed view of the war they have.
[June 19, 2008 12:43 PM]
Ed S."Before I joined Tribune, I had NO idea that reporters were around the globe reporting the news."
Yes, it sounds a bit naive and silly, but the way many papers "cross post" articles (sometimes without even minimal fact-checking) it's not that hard of a stretch to believe.
[June 19, 2008 4:56 PM]
Dan RadmacherGood advice for the industry:
That Ruhe and Geissler could serve as role models now is rich in irony, but the bottom line is beware of fast-talking snake oil salesmen with limited journalistic expertise telling journalists anything about expertise. And, more to the point, beware of any newspaper executive who writes like a fifth-grader, thinks the ten p.m. local news is golden, thinks reporters stay in "hotels protected by the Marines," thinks reporters should "dodge shrapnel" for a good visual, and, lastly, thinks we need more pictures of reporters posing with little Iraqi children.
[June 20, 2008 8:39 AM]
Dan RadmacherA couple of pretty funny parodies of the memo here and here. My favorite, from the second parody:
"And what about alternative PICTURES?
Why aren't we running photos like they have in the Harry Potter movies? You know, the ones where the FIGURES MOVE inside the frame. Why haven't we jumped on that technology???? People would LOVE THAT."
[June 20, 2008 9:40 AM]
HenryEven funnier
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/06/cbs_pulls_unvetted_story_blami.html
CBS News and the Associated Press were quick to regurgitate claims that global warming has increased the intensity of earthquakes fivefold in the past 20 years. But had either taken the time to investigate, they would have discovered that both the source's facts and credentials were, if you'll pardon the expression, on very tremorous ground.
"But we wanted it to be true!"