LIVESTREAM: NextNewsroom conference – Restructuring newsroom management

Facilitated by Bryan Murley of CICM.

Chris Carroll, student communications, Vanderbilt University

Discussing Inside Vandy

  • They don’t have a journalism program, so they didn’t have to deal with traditional structures.
  • “There is no Web editor. It’s everyone’s responsibility to produce for the Web.”
  • “We sort of dismantled some of that traditional structure.”

Murley, CICM

  • Reverse publication – post story online first
  • “It seems antiquated” to break something in print
  • There are very few Web editors who become editor in chief, and that should change

Brad Arendt, general manager, The Arbiter, Boise State

  • Their six-step process: Story, path, deadline, communicate, edit, execute
  • Try to have a collaborative thought process in management
  • “The story is the key”

Dan Morris, adviser, The Arbiter, Boise State

  • They have had editors in chief who have been the photo editor, assistant opinion editor, opinion writer who worked on local TV station, etc. That’s made changing structure a little bit easier.

Greg Linch, editor in chief, The Miami Hurricane

  • I was just yapping about what we do. Blah, blah, blah…

Megan Taylor, managing editor for online, The Independent Florida Alligator

  • They instated a requirement for staffers to produce multimedia
  • Because they are independent, their funds are limited and that’s why her staff is two people
  • Everyone is still print biased

John North, The Knoxville News Sentinel

  • We crow when we can beat TV with posting online

Shannon Morgan, editor in chief, The Arbiter, Boise State

  • We’re trying to get people to tell stories in more than on way
  • 80-100 people
  • My problem now is trying to figure out how to restructure the staff

Kevin Koehler, contributing editor (online editor), Old Gold and Black, Wake Forest

  • Making the transition to Web, it’s hard to get people think of doing things and doing them well
  • People want to do it, there’s interest and people are excited, but they have to learn how it’s done
  • They don’t have a journalism major or any new media courses
  • “It’s too big of a hump on their on a pressing deadline”

Arendt, The Arbiter

  • We tried embedding a multimedia person in the section, but it failed because they were left out or ignored
  • It’s important to look at your deadlines for your output
  • They expect 2-3 paragraph piece recapping a game after it ends, then they follow up
  • If you run efficiently, I think students
  • But the kicker is, “How do you do it?”

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