Staffing a modern newsroom
Monday, July 2nd, 2007If I were in charge of my paper (or yours) this is how I would staff it.
Don’t worry, this will never happen. At 22-years old, I have about as much say as the cleaning staff.
I am going to stay out of staffing for editors and publishers and just concentrate on building a quality Web staff.
This is how I would transform my newspaper (and these are recommendations for your staff):
1) Invest more in staff resources
You can’t run a race without horses. We need more horses. All papers need more horses.
Isn’t it remarkable that most papers are cutting staff (mine is growing, but that’s not the point), and yet think they can somehow transition to a modern newsroom? Let me get this straight. You think by NOT investing in your future, you’ll have a future?
Get real.
My paper has been adding more Web staff, without cutting from other staffs. That’s all good. Our circulation is growing, but our online readership is stagnating. This is largely because we need a complete paradigm shift and infusion of young talent to make big strides.
We need more online staff members, but more importantly we need a rethinking of allocation.
2) Allocating resources properly
