Jay Young and Barbara Kantrowitz interview exhange

Session Reporter: Jay Young
Conversationalist 1: Jay Young and Barbara Kantrowitz
Conversationalist 2: Barbara Kantrowitz and Jay Young

Barbara Kantrowitz’s response to Jay Young’s answers:

I think it’s encouraging that journalists are trying to imagine a future in which we might actually participate in profitable enterprises while adhering to the highest standards of the profession. I’m eager to hear more about what it will take to make that happen. It’s refreshing to be looking ahead rather than mourning what we have lost.

Jay Young’s answers:
1. What is the story of your work and how did it lead to saying “yes” to this gathering?

I spent the past 15 years at two daily newspapers as beat reporter, investigative reporter and editor. I’m interested in this gathering because without massive change in this industry there will be few jobs. Mine at the Altoona Mirror was eliminated in January.

2. We’re well beyond the debate that journalism is changing. Tell me about an experience you.ve had with these new realities — roles, tools, relationships, economics — in which the emerging news ecology actually made a difference in telling a story that mattered. What did that experience teach you about the gifts of both new ways of working and the traditional roots of journalism?

I have found the Internet is an incredible tool to reach beyond the circulation of a newspaper and enhance the experience current readers. In 2007 I collected the employment contracts of Pennsylvania’s 500 school superintendents from each district. The Internet allowed presentation of that project to everyone with interest, while the readership experience was enhanced with electronic access to every contract. While I feel there is a lot good things going on in newsrooms, my concern is the economic model isn’t there yet. Journalists traditionally don’t like the business side, but without it we can’t work.

3.Without being humble, what do you value most about yourself? What do you see yourself bringing to this meeting?

These days I most value my business sense. I’m a journalist first, and an ethical one at that, but it’s become clear on the small to mid-size daily newspaper front that things that don’t make money aren’t going to cut it. The demand for information has never been greater, it’s the delivery and marketing we need to work on.

4.What is it about journalism without which it would cease to be journalism; what is its essential core? What are you ready to let go of?

I feel without good ethics and standards it’s just more information. I’m ready to let go of newsrooms that don’t understand “it’s a profit thing.”

5.The year is 2014 and the new news ecology is a vibrant media landscape. What is journalism bringing to communities and democracy that matters most? What steps did we take back in 2009 to begin to bring this about?

I think those who evolved look back and say there was an information evolution where readers/viewers became customers. Media outlets were forced to follow the money and compete against and adjust to the competition provided by everyday people (CNN calls them I-reporters). The way we did it ten years ago will, and already does, look very simple. And in the end, it will make us better at telling stories and providing information – and gathering it from everyday people. We will have transformed newspaper from fountains of information to town squares of knowledge and exchanged ideas.

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Jay Young’s response to Barb Kantrowitz’s answers
There is comfort in hearing that the challenges are universal in various mediums and circulation/audience levels. It’s also inspiring to see the change is universal. This shows that all journalists are changing to fit the new method of delivery. It reinforces my hope that it’s the ones who change, while holding on to good story telling, are the ones that will have the luxury of looking back in 10 years while still in the business (making a livable wage!).

Barbara Kantrowitz’s answers

1. What is the story of your work and how did it lead to saying “yes” to this gathering?

Most of my background is in print as a writer and editor at magazines and newspapers covering education, health and social issues. In the last few years, I have also written a column on women’s health for newsweek.com. The web experience has been great because there’s a much quicker response from readers. Recently, I started a new job as staff editor for the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Columbia University. We plan to start a web site for education news, similar to what ProPublica does for investigative reporting and Kaiser Health News does for medical and health policy news. I am looking for ways to make our new site appealing and accessible.

2. We’re well beyond the debate that journalism is changing. Tell me about an experience you.ve had with these new realities — roles, tools, relationships, economics — in which the emerging news ecology actually made a difference in telling a story that mattered. What did that experience teach you about the gifts of both new ways of working and the traditional roots of journalism?

Frankly, I’m not sure there are great differences in the stories themselves. Good reporting is good reporting – period. But I do love the dialogue with readers. It has made me think more carefully about how I write because I’ve seen how something you think is clear can be misinterpreted. Instant feedback is fantastic. On my own, I have also been experimenting with audio, video and still photo tools and look forward to using all of these in the new site.

The economic realities of the moment scare me. I worked at Newsweek for 20 years and am still a contributing editor there. Recently, the magazine has had to downsize drastically in order to survive, shedding most correspondents and closing most domestic and international bureaus. I recently did an informal count of my friends and realized I know many more unemployed people than employed people. The traditional model is clearly in crisis. I am not sure what will replace it.

3.Without being humble, what do you value most about yourself? What do you see yourself bringing to this meeting?

I am still very enthusiastic about the profession. I have always believed journalism is a calling. It is up to us to figure out how to translate old values into the new reality. We can’t change what has happened but we can figure out how to make it work for us. This is my current mission.

4.What is it about journalism without which it would cease to be journalism; what is its essential core? What are you ready to let go of?

The core values are honesty, an open mind, skepticism, and a willingness to push past the obvious. No matter what the story, you have to be able to tell it in a compelling way and to convince readers or viewers that it matters to them. All these are platform agnostic. I don’t care much whether I work in print or not – as long as I get to tell important stories.

5.The year is 2014 and the new news ecology is a vibrant media landscape. What is journalism bringing to communities and democracy that matters most? What steps did we take back in 2009 to begin to bring this about?

I foresee a new aggregation of sites, similar to the way individual stations banded together to form networks 60 years ago. Readers could subscribe to these networks for a fee and then have access to dozens of sites. Each network would aim at a specific audience that would brand it in the way that magazines now target certain audiences. For example, I could see a network aimed at people who now read The New Yorker, another at women who read Good Housekeeping etc. There would also be networks for local news, financial news, maybe even celebrity news. This scenario would combine old (networks, branding and audience niche) with new (technology that allows us to tell stories in exciting ways). People could still get the news they need and want – and some of us may even make a living wage out of it

About Peggy Holman

Peggy Holman supports organizations and communities to uncover creative responses to complex challenges using innovative engagement processes. The Change Handbook, co-authored with Tom Devane and Steven Cady, documents many such processes. The book is the considered the definitive resource for leaders and consultants working to increase resilience, agility, and collaboration in organizations and other social systems. Peggy co-founded Journalism that Matters in 2001 with three journalists to support the pioneers who are shaping the emerging news and information ecology. Peggy’s latest book, Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity, supports people facing disruptions to invite others to join them in realizing new possibilities.
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