Comments on: The Great Disconnect

By: ed

ed — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:00:52 +0000

Why should the rank and file provide any ideas for this generation of failed leaders. For years they have scoffed at any idea that came from the newsroom as being off-the-wall or not business-orientated. At best, you got a pat on the head or a thank you e-mail. Now it is looking real bleak, they are grabbing at straws and they say they need input. Guess what? They realize it is their jobs that are next up when the economic sythe cuts through newspaper operations. Hey, good riddance.

By: TIm D

TIm D — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:56:59 +0000

I’m 26. I started at this job when I was 23, thinking I’d stay two years max and move on to bigger and better. Two years came and went, now three, then came the point where I and others my age have abandoned hope of the bigger and better. More significantly, we’ve abandoned the desire for another newspaper job, seeing as it will be the same nonsense wherever we go. I know of four of my friends who have/are quitting newspapers to start Web sites that they’re not even sure will be successful. But, they say, you gotta try something at this point.

By: Pepper

Pepper — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:25:23 +0000

After 30 years in newspaper advertising, I can tell you things are the same on the other side of the “wall”. You have resistance to change and if there is a change, its because there is a new ad director with ideas you have seen before but you go along to keep the peace. As an ad manager, I finally threw in the towel when an expensive training program was brought to my paper and it consisted of old ways of selling PRINT and INSERTS with nothing about online. I may be an old broad, but I am not a DUMB old broad. Managers on the ad side need to listen to the “youngsters” who believe online should be the primary sell with print as added value.

By: Paul Gillin

Paul Gillin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:52:05 +0000

Good comments. If you see this response, maybe you can say how old you are?

By: Tim D

Tim D — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:35:58 +0000

So true, sadly, and I’ve been finding myself and other reporters of our generation more frequently huddled in corners of the newsroom talking about how it’s clear this industry no longer deserves us. Perfect example: Howard Weaver, McClatchy’s VP for news, set up a wiki (https://mcclatchynext.pbwiki.com/) to try to solicit ideas for innovation to help the company figure out a way to turn the tide around. Not a bad idea … six years ago. Now, we find ourselves at the stage where yes, me and other young reporters are brimming with ideas, thoughts, criticisms, and innovations â€” but why the hell would we share them with a company that didn’t want to listen before? I’ve lobbied till I’m hoarse for fundamental, common sense fixes to our Web site, but still no action has been taken.
I’ve been tempted to log on to that site several times and join in the discussion, but why? Why should I waste my ideas, good, bad or otherwise, there, when the future is clearly somewhere else? So now for our generation of newspaper reporters who will soon leave newspapers, the question is: what next?