Comments on TEMPLE TALK: 12 lessons for editors from the demise of the Rock...

Hi John. Thanks For Sharing this very useful info...

2009-11-11T19:27:01.581-10:00

Hi John.

Thanks For Sharing this very useful information with us.Great Work.keep it up....

r4 dsi

John, Thank you. As a prior editor at a newspaper...

2009-05-03T19:52:00.000-10:00

John,

Thank you. As a prior editor at a newspaper in North Carolina, I really appreciate this.

I especially love #7: "Almost everybody in your newsroom got into this business with the hope of fulfilling some type of higher calling. You need to connect with that desire, feed and encourage it and show how new approaches to reporting the news can do just that."

Exactly.

I live in Colorado too, and am currently freelancing. Cheers.

Amy Segreti

Thanks, John. I miss the Rocky terribly. The other...

2009-05-01T10:31:00.000-10:00

Thanks, John. I miss the Rocky terribly. The other one doesn't quite cut it for me. And your insights apply to a wide variety of businesses right now.

Great stuff, John. This is the type of forward th...

2009-05-01T10:16:00.000-10:00

Great stuff, John.

This is the type of forward thinking that will hopefully wake up the print newspaper biz from its coma.

Have to disagree with jim_carty though. While we should never compromise the integrity of a newspaper by crossing the line between ads and editorial - we need to understand the symbiotic relationship between the two sides; we need them as much as they need us.

Nice work.

FdS

2009-05-01T10:08:00.000-10:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

Great post. I love #8. I'm in marketing and I lov...

2009-05-01T09:00:00.000-10:00

Great post. I love #8.
I'm in marketing and I love my newspaper.

It's my job to help sell ads in the paper. It's my job to help sell subscriptions to the paper. If we don't know what the editor is thinking about doing to change and improve columns/sections/pages, it's hard for us to preach for the choir.

I understand the wall. But I think poking holes in it might be smart, especially during times of change.

Well, John, to quote my first publisher - who, inc...

2009-05-01T07:58:00.000-10:00

Well, John, to quote my first publisher - who, incidentally, left the small community daily I started at in 1990, worked his way up the publisher food chain to bigger shops, and then returned to the original paper because it was where he was happiest - editorial and advertising have so little in common that the goals of both are best served by remembering that and concentrating on their own jobs.

Whenever I hear an editor urging "cooperation" or knocking down walls, I remember that quote. Regardless of the values, we're better off with that wall.

Good stuff, John. Thanks for sharing your thoughts...

2009-05-01T07:57:00.000-10:00

Good stuff, John. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Chris Lopez

In response to Reagan, I'm not sure whether you're...

2009-05-01T07:31:00.000-10:00

In response to Reagan, I'm not sure whether you're looking for advice on how to change your newsroom into an all-platform operation or how to move more quickly. But assuming it's the former, I'd suggest setting a goal where you think you need to be and not accepting that you're just part way there. To do that, you need to make sure that people are getting training, which is difficult in a newsroom. And as soon as they get training, you can't accept any backsliding. People need feedback, support, and they need to know that your serious, that if they don't adopt what you've agreed is necessary for success it's a serious problem that could jeopardize their job.

As for the wall, the question is whether the whole organization is imbued with the same values. If it's not, then it's us against them. That can't work, in my view, in this age.

As a reporter who got laid off yesterday, all I ca...

2009-05-01T06:11:00.000-10:00

As a reporter who got laid off yesterday, all I can say is "Amen."

This is some very good advice. About this one: 9...

2009-05-01T05:59:00.000-10:00

This is some very good advice.

About this one:

9. If you think you’ve done enough to make your newsroom an all-platform, real-time news organization, think again. We’re coming from such an entrenched culture, oriented toward daily deadlines, that when we do make changes we’re too easily satisfied. We still move too slowly.

What kinds of things are you suggesting? Do you have any specifics?

I'll second what Barca said, and add that your sug...

2009-05-01T05:51:00.000-10:00

I'll second what Barca said, and add that your suggestion not to worry about walls between marketing and advertising strikes me as a huge mistake. History and Sam Zell tell us there are very, very good reasons for those walls.

On No. 11 - Often it is the editors who are the on...

2009-05-01T05:16:00.000-10:00

On No. 11 - Often it is the editors who are the ones who act as if it is all about them. That they have all the answers and no one else has a worthwhile idea. They cling to the mantras of multi-platform, tweet, social networks while allowing the one thing that has a reader base and an advertising base - the newspaper - to be destroyed. All so they can be called "innovators."