Academic job: University of South Carolina multiplatform position

We're now accepting applications for a tenure-track position to help us teach multiplatform journalism. Professional track is available.

See the add http://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/mcis/journalism_and_mass_communications/employment_opportunities/multiplatform_journalism.php

Allyson Bird's "Why I left news"

Allyson Bird, one of the best students I've ever had, writes at length about why she left journalism. You should read it.

I think there's a lot to chew on here:

I don’t think the Internet killed newspapers. Newspapers killed newspapers.

People like to say that print media didn’t adapt to online demand, but that’s only part of it. The corporate folks who manage newspapers tried to comply with the whims of a thankless audience with a microscopic attention span. And newspaper staffers tried to comply with the demands of a thankless establishment that often didn’t even read their work. Everyone lost.

People came to demand CNN’s 24-hour news format from every news outlet, including local newspapers. And the news outlets nodded their heads in response, scrambling into action without offering anything to the employees who were now expected to check their emails after hours and to stay connected with readers through social media in between stories.

There was never such a thing as an eight-hour workday at newspapers, but overtime became the stuff of legend. You knew better than to demand fair compensation. If any agency that a newspaper covered had refused to pay employees for their time, the front-page headlines wouldn’t cease. But when it came to watching out for themselves, the watchdogs kept their heads down.

Combine it with the latest from the State of the Media report and it's observation that "nearly one-third of the respondents (31%) have deserted a news outlet because it no longer provides the news and information they had grown accustomed to," and I think it's time to reassess.

 One of the things I'm going to suggest to the S.C. Press Association this weekend: Do Less With Less - but do it better.

I think our audience is telling us very simply: We can get the "more" if we want it very easily. But if you want our loyalty and engagement, the formula isn't more, but better - do what you do well. Show us you care -- about us and about your own profession. And while you're at it, show us you're having some fun, because to read most news sites and papers these days is no-fun city.

(There's an interesting debate about some of this at Slate between author Matthew Yglesias and the reaction by the commenters on his article that argues journalism has never been in better shape.)

Reinventing yourself in the digital age

Here's a case study of reinventing yourself in the digital age - and not from the 18-39 generation.

Charlie and Bill Benton have kicked around the Columbia radio market for years.

Late last year, it was curtains, as their show, "Good Morning Columbia," was yanked from the air in yet another radio reshuffle.

So what do you do in this digital age?

You take your talent and depth of market knowledge - and hopefully your audience - online.

The pair have resurfaced in a podcast in conjunction with a local digital publication MidlandsBiz.com.

 I don't know whether they'll be successful. The first podcast was not overly impressive, and I don't know whether in this age, when people seem to increasingly want quick bites of useful information more than a folksy conversation, the production will work.

The production values weren't all that great (cue the announcer from what sounds like a barrel), and there's no evidence of a social media or other infrastructure at the moment beyond what's on the MidlandsBiz page.

But it will be interesting to see how it develops and if they can create their own little narrowcast channel that brings in some revenue. And it's a way to show students what their future is likely to be - one where the only constant is reinvention.

Resume visualation site

I was intrigued when I first read about this site, Visualize.me, which is a startup that will take your LinkedIn data and turn it into a spiffy, visually oriented resume.

I have mixed thoughts: On one hand, I think it's a neat idea. On the other, anytime an app wants to muck around in my data on a social networking service, I give it serious thought, scrutiny and research.(Not to mention that if you use it, you're going to have to go into Linked-in and make sure your data is clean or that you clean it up and make sure it is exact on things like expertise, something that can be time consuming.)

So we'll see. For now, if you want to look at the promo stuff:
http://vizualize.me/bbm5x

That code on the end I think is supposed to track the number of people I refer. So if you don't want that, I perfectly understand, just use http://vizualize.me.

As someone noted in the comments on that post, this still probably isn't for the HR dept. that wants to scan in your resume for keywords, but it might impress the hiring manager if you can get past the HR gantlet.

Quick reads for the holiday - and a dustup over legal ads

A few things worth reading today:

• Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner tells Ad Age that magazines are a bit insane if they think they can duplicate online what they can in print. His particular target is tablets and what he calls "sheer insanity." Give it "decades" before there's a successful migration, two generations at least, he says. I'm not so sure he isn't stretching that time line a bit. I give it a decade if - a big if - we get a more robust mobile broadband system. I think a huge shakeout/shakeup in the telecommunications sector is brewing. It may involve government involvement, and it will be cast as a matter of economic security.
• A reminder of how bad things have been in some places - a report that half of San Francisco Bay area journalism jobs have been lost in the past decade. (Of course, the economics student in me asks were there too many to begin with.)
• Twitter has moved the lists and favorites off the home page. That has Shea Bennett wondering if Twitter plans to do away with them. I hope not. I need all the organization I can get my hands on. Bennett thinks it's because mostly only "power users" were using them. I'm hardly one of those, but aren't power users the ones most likely to pay for the service? So why bury a tool they use? Here's a suggestion: Instead of dictating my layout, give me an option to move these to the home page, if I want.

As for the legal ads

Newspapers, fearful yet another revenue source will melt away to online, have been fighting a rear-guard action to keep the right to publish -- and charge generously for -- legal ads, those arcane, legalese things buried in the paper that, if you really read them, could be a source of decent story leads (not to mention a heaping dose of voyeurism over who's getting sued, kicked out of their place, going bankrupt, etc.)

A Pennsylvania Patch opinion writer throws down the gauntlet over legal ads (we'll run 'em for free to attract audiences) in response to yet another newspaper column trying to block a possible shift of the ads online by the Keystone State's legislature. (Another recent newspaper meme: Link rot could make such online ads useless.)

As to that last point first: So how many of us have been to our - supposedly on paper? - newspaper morgues lately to look at some old, yellowed legal ad? (Uh huh, thought so.) In fact, try finding that morgue at your local oracle's offices. It's all been digitized, folks. And have you ever checked out the link rot on newspaper sites, what with paywalls and archives and all that? (Gimme a break.)

As to newspaper editor Stan Huskey's first set of points, which pretty much parallel the industry line:

• News flash. Not everyone has a computer. Nope, and lots of people don't read newspapers, either. It's standard rhetorical bluster to cite a figure for newspapers - actually to imply a figure for newspapers by saying more people read them than watched the Super Bowl (111 million) - and leave out any comparisons with online (where, unlike newspapers, you can precisely track how many people look at the ads).
• Public notices cost municipalities very little money, and in a lot of cases, nothing at all. Well, not quite true. Huskey has a point that some ad costs are baked in to what the government charges people like developers. But the Patch commentator has posted PDFs of his local county's ledger (provided through an open-records request), that shows it paid  $200,000 for such ads last year. Who pays for all those ads from "voter services" for instance?
• And do we really want to take jobs out of the private sector and put them in the public sector? Isn’t government big enough as it is? Putting aside the tea party-type argument about big government for a second (guess you'll be willing to give up any tax breaks on paper, ink, etc., Mr. Huskey?), the nub of this whole conflict is in the first sentence. Huskey elaborates on it later: Let’s peel away yet another layer of the onion in an attempt to find out why our state legislature would continue to present bills that would harm the newspaper industry.
  

  And, technically, another layer of the onion would be the jobs that would be lost if legal notices were taken out of newspaper.
  
  So, why would some state legislators feel the need to harm, perhaps retaliate against, newspapers?
  
  Could it be because we hold them accountable?

Uh, yes, it probably is. And one of the reasons the industry is vulnerable on this is because journalists are largely inconsequential to politicians unless they think the journalist has the suasion of public opinion/outrage behind him or her. The newspaper biz - actually, the journalism biz in general - has lost a lot of that in the past decade, the result of numerous scandals, consolidations that made clear to the public that in most cases this is a business first and a public service second, etc. Nothing wrong with its being a business, but it makes trading on the "public service" argument just a teensy-weensy bit harder.

This isn't going to make me a lot of friends among the press associations I know and love, but they and their members have got to stop trying to play this card game with half a deck of truth.

Yes, there are good public service arguments to be made - and there are good counter-arguments on the digital side. Personally, I think the ads should be in both places because it's a multimedia world. Digital gives me easy access and the ability to search. Papers give me portability and a sense of semi-permanence.

But the real issue is money. Publishers don't want to give up what is as close to an annuity in this business as you can get. You don't have to go out and sell these things - the law mandates that the governments bring them to you - and because of the legally enforced stranglehold, you can charge a decent dollar.

Go ahead, frame it as a "save good journalism" and good journalism jobs argument, but acknowledge it for what it is - you need the money to help prop up a troubled business.

Just don't try to show half a hand and bluff the public. In the game of public opinion, the stakes are high. Eventually, they'll discover it (I think they're actually pretty cognizant of the truth so far), and you'll be labeled a cheater. That's a PR hole you don't want to be trying to dig out of.

Mississippi broadcasting job description only a lawyer or bureaucrat could love

Attention job-seekers: Mississippi Public Broadcasting is looking for a news director - at least we here at CSJ central think that's what it is after reading this posting.

We admit we were aided by the helpful inclusion of "news director" in parentheses in the subject line - but then that does raise the question of if you have to put explanatory material in your subject line, what's it telling you?

It's telling you that sometimes the bureaucrat-speak just gets out of hand. The ad contains bon mots like this:

Special Experience:  Employment must have been in an administrative, professional capacity in an area of work related to the functional responsibility of the bureau in which the position exists.  In those bureaus where registered specialists provide the primary source of functional and technical knowledge for planning and accomplishing the mission of the bureau, the incumbent must also be registered and experienced in that profession.

Translation: If you haven't had a hand in running a news operation, no need to apply.

Assistant VP communications job University of South Carolina

We are hiring:

The University of South Carolina seeks applicants for Assistant Vice President and Director of News and Internal Communications. This is a newly created position responsible for serving as the university’s official spokesperson, elevating its level of national media visibility and developing an internal communications strategy. We seek a person who is a skilled writer and story-teller and is capable of building communities of interest. That person will report to the university’s Vice President for Communications. Applicants should have at least ten years’ experience including media relations strategy, online technologies and social media best practices in advancing an institution’s reach and reputation. A bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, public relations, new media or related field is required; master’s is preferred.

Apply online at http://uscjobs.sc.edu (search by requisition #003499). The cover letter, explaining interest and qualifications, and questions may be addressed to Dean Charles Bierbauer, AVP Search Chair. Include resume, at least three references, three writing samples and URL for an online site managed by the applicant that demonstrates ability to effectively use Web and social media.

Minorities and women are encouraged to apply. USC is an EOE.

Mark Luckie to WaPo

Mark Luckie, multimedia producer at California Watch and proprietor of the "10,000 words" blog (one of my favorites), announces he's moving to the Wasington Post.

Good luck!

I swear - newspaper reporter jobs rank low

Huffington Post reports on a new survey saying newspaper reporter jobs rank between seaman and stevedore.

Maybe this mean we can start talking like seamen and stevedores again. Would make newsrooms more interesting, at least.

Later: My boss, a veteran journalist, wrote a note back to me suggesting this might also mean an opportune time to bring in the longshoreman's union. Oh yeah, that would kick the fun up a notch.

Jay Small leaving Scripps

Jay Small, who has headed E.W. Scripps' interactive design unit, is leaving to join Cordillera Communications as president of interactive at the TV station owner.

But he won't be leaving Knoxville.

Congrats, Jay.

I hope in the new position he'll still be able to share a lot of the information as he has in the past few years - valuable stuff.

AEJMC09: Surprise (not) Comm graduates face tough year

Read 'em and weep:

The figures aren't due to be released at the AEJMC conference for 10 more minutes, but details of the annual survey of mass comm grads is out on Journalism.org.

A few highlights:

• lowest employment level for grads in 23 years of survey.
• 40% unable to find full-time jobs in field
• Benefits down, salaries stagnant
• “By almost all indications, the 2008 graduates of the nation’s journalism and mass communications programs found themselves in a disastrous job market.”
• Even Web employment down.
• Lower levels of job satisfaction, higher levels of regret over career choice.

No great surprises.

Stupid layoffs

Yeah, I know, no layoffs are good. But today's layoffs at The State, including nine newsroom workers, included editorial page editor Brad Warthen.

File this under "stupid."

Warthen, love him or hate him -- and many people did both -- "got" the Web. He wasn't necessarily one of the first - the paper's toe-dipping online kept that from happening -- but once there he went at it hard, aggressively and with some innovation (incorporating video, etc.).

You sort of knew this was coming, however. The State, as have many papers, has severely trimmed its editorial section, some days running, in essence, just letters to the editor.

Among others reportedly cut: editorial cartoonist Robert Ariail (again, no surprise, but just as sad; it was a bit of a point of pride to live in a town with a paper with a cartoonist of his caliber) and metro editor Christi Shayne (though her husband, Andy, stays on for now running the business pages).

Other names surfacing:
Reporter Robin Nalepa
Reporter/arts critic: Jeffrey Day
Online editor: Tonyia McGirt
Assistant sports editor Mark Lawrence

South Carolina has long been referred to as "too small to be a state, to large to be an insane asylum." We all knew this was coming, but the sad part is that between these cuts and others around the state, the inmates are now much more likely to be able to run the asylum.

Owens leaves Gatehouse

Howard Owens has left Gatehouse with little explanation, although Dan Kennedy says Owens promises one soon.

A picture is worth ...

This one pretty much says it all. Check out the two lines bracketing the middle one trumpeting newspapers' new PR push.

In case it's too small to read, here they are:

• A.H. Belo, Owner of The Journal, Plans to Cut 500 Jobs - Providence Journal
• Newspapers fight negative perceptions in new ads - Associated Press/AP Online
• Dallas Morning News Parent A.H. Belo to Cut About 500 Jobs - The Dallas Morning News
  

Looking for a job?

Well, the FBI's hiring.

I get a daily e-mail from the agency, and today's says it's going to hire 2,100 professional staff and 850 special agents this year.

I'd feel better knowing some folks with journalism backgrounds had some of those spots.

Here's the link for info.

Touching Video - AJC farewell

From Alan Mutter, the Newsosaur, a pointer to a touching video put together about all the Atlanta Journal-Constitution staffers (70+) who departed in a round of buyouts last week. It takes 23 minutes to say all the farewells.

Timely advice on getting jobs in hard times

You could do a lot worse in this world than read John Zhu's series of four posts on "How to (Voluntarily) Become an Ex-Journalist."

Zhu, who did time at the Durham Herald-Sun before moving to other pastures in the "Triangle," has some excellent advice. His second part, especially, should be read not only by those in the business who are wondering when they'll get "the call," but also by those looking to enter the business (yes, believe it or not, we still have some of those).

Zhu points to another site of note: We Were Print. You'll find some good advice there, too. Not sure who is behind it, but it seems to have a heavy contingent of former Cox staffers, especially Palm Beach.

Down memory lane

As I was doing some research tonight, I came across this from an article:

Yet many copy editors sense that managers overlook their contributions when promotions open up.

And that's just one of their frustrations. After years of adapting to pagination and surviving staff restructuring, downsizing, redesigns and tacked-on new-media responsibilities, many copy editors in St. Petersburg concluded that the critical copy-editing function demands reappraisal by, and renewed appreciation from, editors and publishers alike. ...

Yet copy editors suffer an "abysmal lack of respect. ... Now to this perennial problem have been added two huge new ones, newsroom downsizing and pagination, a technological revolution that ironically increased the workload on the copy desk while reducing the newspaper's overall payroll."

And then there was this:

The case for elimination of the copy desk is being argued in newsrooms and in trade journals, and the following are some of the sometimes contradictory points that have been made:

Eliminating the copy desk will not eliminate copyediting. Newspapers might as well eliminate copyeditors because copyeditors no longer have time to edit.

Pagination has spelled the end of copyediting as we know it. Newspapers don't need copyeditors because reporters should be able to provide clean copy.

Copyeditors should be shifted to (take your pick) design desks, originating desks or topic teams, because that's where they belong.

OK, so where did I find those?

The first is from the NAA's Presstime of November 1997. (The quote is from Gene Forman, then deputy editor and vice president of the Philadelphia Inquirer.)

The second? John Russial's important academic study and argument "Goodbye copy desks, hello trouble?" from Newspaper Research Journal in spring 1998.

And now we'd probably look back on those as the halcyon days!

Yelvington throws a nod to copy editors

Steve Yelvington, who is paid by Morris Communications to, among other things, peer deeply into the future and figure it out, looks back a bit to his desk days as he throws a nod to the copy editors and subs of the world who, especially after the past two weeks, are in deep disarray.

Yelvington's paean cuts both ways, however. One of his first lines will get shouts of "huzzah" and "hallelujah" inside the cathedral of the rim:

The dirty little secret of newspaper journalists is that a lot of them can't write very well.

But don't go crowing yet, dear subs, because Yelvington's message isn't that you need to be there to save the world. His message is that newspapers -- heck, newsrooms in general -- no longer can afford the specialization that copy editors (and a lot of other newsroom jobs) represent. Specialization is an artifact of the Industrial Age, a time when we were manufacturing newspapers, not serving people by trying to get them the most relevant news where, when and how they want it (something I dubbed a long time ago as "rapid relevance"). Or as he puts it:

If you're studying journalism, you'd better learn to rub your belly and pat your head at the same time, without making any mistakes, because there's not going to be anyone there to save you from your own shortcomings. ...

Some copy editors are going to lose their jobs. But so will some reporters.

Because without copy editors, the reporters who are weakest at writing, at attention to detail, at stepping out of their own heads and critically examining their work, are going to be subjected to the harshest editors of all: a readership that today is empowered to talk back.

Once you've chewed on that, pop over to Jeff Jarvis' little exercise in creating your own newsroom budget. (Thanks to Yelvington for the pointer.) He's got a Google doc spreadsheet up that you can edit if you want to try your hand at it. He's not overly kind to copy editors either. (Here's the link directly to the Google doc.)

I'm not sure I'd cut the desk quite as deeply as he does, but the copy editors I'd have left would have to be multitaskers -- just as Yelvington's reporters will have to be. Yeah, you might spend 70 to 75% of your time editing copy, but the rest you've got to pitch in with another skill: moderating online communities, some design, seeking out the best blogs/sites/etc. to bolster our opinion offerings, etc.

Interesting in all this is the renewed emphasis on beat reporting. Cool.

I seem to recall in a dim memory somewhere when I was just a cub that's what we did. I remember coming in and hitting the phones and working City Hall incessantly for the first few hours to find out what was going on that day -- and then reporting on it. What a concept -- we found out what was news that day and reported it (as well as throwing a feature or enterprise piece or two in the can for the weekend).

Of course, in the '80s and '90s we got into "planned news," because its easier and cheaper (you keep your costs down if you can plan it). And little by little reversal crept in, so it was suspect if you were out of the office, instead of if you were in it. I take the latest developments as welcoming back the old admonition from the city editor: If you don't want me in your hair, get the hell out of the office (subtext: but don't you dare come back without a story).

Yes, it can be abused, but it's generally a good thing.

(Update: BusinessWeek profile of Mindworks, one of the big outsourcing shops in India.)

Reuven Frank - words to chew on

Was rummaging through some things the other day and came across a quote I'd copied and attributed to Reuven Frank, former NBC News president and one of the pioneers in broadcast news (and, were he around today, likely online too).

I'm not sure where I got it; probably saw it some trade mag many years ago, and it just hit a chord. In light of all the recent upheaval in the news biz, I thought it worth sharing:

Journalism is a job, not a calling.
Journalists are employed, not ordained.

Now, I'm not sure I totally agree with the "calling" bit; I think the best journalists have a little bit of that in them. But still, it's something to chew on.