Comments on: Should Web employees not subscribe to the print edition? http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/2008/05/25/should-web-employees-not-subscribe-to-the-print-edition/ Thoughts from a technologist and journalist Wed, 09 May 2012 14:41:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Andrew M. Roman http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/2008/05/25/should-web-employees-not-subscribe-to-the-print-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-3701 Andrew M. Roman Thu, 29 May 2008 16:43:04 +0000 http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/?p=288#comment-3701 I am a big believer in collaboration. How do we break down the rigid boundaries in a newsroom if newspaper people only read? If broadcast people only watch TV? If Web people only stay online? And how long will we even HAVE those categories? In some newsrooms, people already work a hybrid traditional-online job. Are they Web people or not? Should they only subscribe to one form of journalism? Which one? In addition, why tout a two-way medium (the Web) if everyone creating Web content only sees news from the perspective of other Web natives. I believe that would create the same sense of entitled precedent that now troubles newspapers. It stifles innovation and discussion. And the phrase "well, that's how we've always done it" creeps back into regular conversation. I also believe traditional newspaper journalism still can teach a thing or two to online markets. Serial content (multi-day stories, for example) still is handled much better in print. It's still faster to scan a newspaper's big type and lede paragraphs than it is to work through even the most targeted of RSS feeds. Of course, traditional newspapers can learn loads from the Web. That's why I read this blog and others like it. That's why I've learned CSS, Flash, ActionScript and audio/visual editing. That's why I get my news from a combination of print products, television, and the Web. -- Andrew M. Roman Raleigh, N.C. I am a big believer in collaboration. How do we break down the rigid boundaries in a newsroom if newspaper people only read? If broadcast people only watch TV? If Web people only stay online?

And how long will we even HAVE those categories? In some newsrooms, people already work a hybrid traditional-online job. Are they Web people or not? Should they only subscribe to one form of journalism? Which one?

In addition, why tout a two-way medium (the Web) if everyone creating Web content only sees news from the perspective of other Web natives. I believe that would create the same sense of entitled precedent that now troubles newspapers. It stifles innovation and discussion. And the phrase “well, that’s how we’ve always done it” creeps back into regular conversation.

I also believe traditional newspaper journalism still can teach a thing or two to online markets. Serial content (multi-day stories, for example) still is handled much better in print. It’s still faster to scan a newspaper’s big type and lede paragraphs than it is to work through even the most targeted of RSS feeds.

Of course, traditional newspapers can learn loads from the Web. That’s why I read this blog and others like it. That’s why I’ve learned CSS, Flash, ActionScript and audio/visual editing. That’s why I get my news from a combination of print products, television, and the Web.

– Andrew M. Roman
Raleigh, N.C.

]]> By: Herald Watch http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/2008/05/25/should-web-employees-not-subscribe-to-the-print-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-3669 Herald Watch Tue, 27 May 2008 17:13:53 +0000 http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/?p=288#comment-3669 The Miami Herald would be wise to implement this for a while. They seem to come late to the party with regards to every technological advancement. The Miami Herald would be wise to implement this for a while. They seem to come late to the party with regards to every technological advancement.

]]> By: WFL http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/2008/05/25/should-web-employees-not-subscribe-to-the-print-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-3652 WFL Mon, 26 May 2008 00:42:30 +0000 http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/?p=288#comment-3652 I disagree. The web product and the print product should be treated as two separate entities, yes - but not to the point of one hand ignoring the other. Of course, if your staff is so bereft of motivation towards online that they would easily digress into the daily publish concept, perhaps you should consider who you've got staffing your web medium. It hasn't been hard for our newspaper (a small locally focused paper with most of the revenue coming from print) to move forward with "web first", and we don't even have dedicated online staff, excluding our new media guy, and myself (to an extent - I'm just a dev/designer/artist - neither of us write for our paper). Our regular staff, consisting of a number of people who have been in the biz for more years than I've been born, have been incredibly motivated towards online. One of our reporters regularly makes use of YouTube. Our editor has a blog. Our reporters are glad to have stories go online immediately (as far as I know). Hell, we've even been told to make use of the delayed publishing for online because we publish EVERYTHING online immediately, which sometimes leaves gaps in the time between online releases. I disagree. The web product and the print product should be treated as two separate entities, yes – but not to the point of one hand ignoring the other.

Of course, if your staff is so bereft of motivation towards online that they would easily digress into the daily publish concept, perhaps you should consider who you’ve got staffing your web medium. It hasn’t been hard for our newspaper (a small locally focused paper with most of the revenue coming from print) to move forward with “web first”, and we don’t even have dedicated online staff, excluding our new media guy, and myself (to an extent – I’m just a dev/designer/artist – neither of us write for our paper). Our regular staff, consisting of a number of people who have been in the biz for more years than I’ve been born, have been incredibly motivated towards online. One of our reporters regularly makes use of YouTube. Our editor has a blog. Our reporters are glad to have stories go online immediately (as far as I know). Hell, we’ve even been told to make use of the delayed publishing for online because we publish EVERYTHING online immediately, which sometimes leaves gaps in the time between online releases.

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