International Symposium on Online Journalism

Transformation of the newspaper into a multimedia organization

Why merge?

• Changes in the business model require a ground-up re-thinking of the entire news organization, not just the creation of a parallel online organization

• Online should be a full partner in driving news decisions not do post-production on someone else’s content

• Journalists of all stripes are eager to get involved

Making it happen• Clear leadership from the top• Put Web journalists in positions of authority• Training, training, training• Delegate authority gradually as knowledge builds• Address cultural issues head on• Look for opportunities to transform print, not just the Web• Try different organizational models

“The goal in combining the two newsrooms is to create a single 24-hour news organization that will inform and engage readers on multiple platforms,” said Paulson. “That means going beyond arm’s-length collaboration. Starting today our goal is to begin conceiving and planning our coverage as one unit, thinking more strategically about the deployment of our newsgathering resources in a world in which news has become an on-demand commodity.” -- Ken Paulson

Making it happen• Clear leadership from the top• Put Web journalists in positions of authority• Training, training, training• Delegate authority gradually as knowledge builds• Address cultural issues head on• Look for opportunities to transform print, not just the Web• Try different organizational models

Reporter

Reporter

Reporter

Reporter

Reporter

Reporter

Reporter

Blogger

Editor Editor

Reporter

Reporter

Reporter

Reporter

Editor

Obstacles

• Web employees find it harder than print

• Ties to the business side strained

• Innovation can suffer

• Struggle to align values

Benefits

• Force multiplier

“I’ll be a lot happier when this becomes the norm, but editors and reporters here really are starting to adapt to the news cycle they now face…and people seem to understand when it’s better to write a whole story and when it’s better to just send up some info to put together for them.”

Benefits

• Force multiplier

• Buy in

• Fresh ideas

• Better journalism

• Better alignment of effort

International Symposium on Online Journalism

Transformation of the newspaper into a multimedia organization