Not For Attribution

More so than anytime I have seen before, newspapers are desperately trying to find change, searching for something that will save them.

Nick is a part of his group that is trying to reinvent the Spokesman newsroom, and their report is due out tomorrow. I am excited to read that.

By now everyone in the world has heard about the Tampa Tribune shake-up, and their changes proposed by their editor. And the backlash against the intern.

So, I’ll try to run down what is going on at The News Tribune.

Everyone remembers a few weeks ago, my first day, when the executive editor announced the McClatchy-wide cutbacks, and the cuts that would occur in Tacoma. We lost 84 people, nine positions in the newsroom. In fact, I just stopped by a party for one of the paper’s longest-running employees who took a buyout. Ouch. Well, during his speech, he announced the complete newsroom reset. Since 1995, I believe, the Trib has functioned with an executive editor, a ME, AME, team leaders (like city editors or ACEs) and reporters/photogs/copy editors/designers/etc. under their team leader. That is what everyone knows hear.

And all of that is pretty much being thrown out the window. Everything is on the table during the reset. The approach is kind of (barely) similar to Nick’s, in that the staff is looking at a complete change to the newsroom structure. Except we are not going about it through a group of eight young staffers. There were two meetings today with everyone who could come, probably about half the newsroom staff showed up, and more suggestions will be taken throughout the week. We could not look at anything content-related, everything had to be structural. And there were all kinds of suggestions.

What it came down to is the Trib needs to embrace Web-first in every way. Right now, we post about 80 percent of stories online before and the site is pretty stagnant. People are suggesting new Web editor systems, with multiple editors working through a 24-hour cycle, and additional Web designers. People want the production site cut, people want the production side re-evaluated. Some said they want a full Web team with multiple reporters and a photog, others said they want a full-time Web trainer. Everything was Web, and the only discussion about print was how it could be cut back.

There were guidelines to go by, most notably stay with the same staff number. No new hires. Do not look at the size and focus of the operation now, look to the future (ie anticipate a smaller staff/smaller paper).

Next, people volunteered to be in committees to evaluate all of the suggestions, combine them and look at what is possible.

I sat in on both meetings and listened. I partly wanted to talk, but also I am an intern who has been here for a few weeks. I 1. Still don’t have a grasp on how the TNT works and the dynamic of the operation. 2. I am a snot-nosed kid who has barely been in Tacoma, and these are people who have been here for years and their careers are in the balance.

But, at the risk of being destroyed like the Tampa intern, I think this is a good way to go about it. I like that the discussion is driven by everyone, there are open meetings that draw debate. A new reporter has the same voice level as a seasoned editor. That will likely change as time progresses, but in these early stages it is nice to see that all voices are being heard.

I always knew newspapers were in trouble, but I was in college, at a student newspaper. I never thought about it that much. But having cutbacks on my first day, and sitting through these meetings have given me a realization that I couldn’t have imagined.

This is still very early, but there will be dramatic changes at the TNT soon. I would be surprised if the main structure still exists in a few months. But for now, I want to see the possible changes and what people come up with together.