A headline the other day in The New York Times caught my eye: Local Papers Shine Light in Society’s Dark Corners.
The gist of the story: The “Road Warrior” columnist at The Record (Bergen County, northern New Jersey) focused on a massive traffic tie-up, the paper kept digging and N.J. Gov. Chris Christie now is now struggling to hold onto his presidential ambitions.
The Times’ David Carr points out the importance of local watchdog journalism, and the critical role of local papers.
The Record, even though a “local paper,” is a “big paper” compared to the thousands of mid-size, small, community dailies,and weeklies.
And, as the N.J. story illustrates, “local papers” – regardless of how they are defined – are terrific starting points for beginning journalists – plus digital folks, ad salespeople and others coming out of college, looking for jobs.
The industry has gone through upheaval and realignment, but one fact remains steady: smaller newspapers are generally the best place for a college graduate to start. Younger employees get exposed to a variety of tasks, learn skills quickly, get exposure to all departments of a newspaper and can make a direct impact more easily. Many smaller to midsize papers are generally making a good profit and have fairly stable work environments.
And they are looking for digital-savvy young staffers to help them transition.
For newspapers who value those young employees, there’s a new question managers must ask themselves; how do get the most out of recent college graduates, and also provide the most in return for them?
A while back I sat in a managers’ meeting at a paper with a variety of staff members, department heads and senior management, talking digital, and how to make the most of it.
Unfortunately, much of it focused on phrases like “we don’t do it that way” and “we’ve never done that” and “we don’t have time to focus on digital.”
One recent hire, the youngest person in the room, was fully engaged at the outset, but as the meeting mod shifted, he became silent. I wonder if he is still at the paper, or moved to a national or local digital agency, because they are now even in small towns, trying to capture what have been newspaper dollars.
Keeping a new graduate doesn’t mean the publisher has to buy him or her lunch once a week.
A few thoughts:
• As they bring their skills to your workplace, offer your knowledge to them. Help them learn the challenges the industry faces, and how each employee can play an important role.
• If their focus is digital, teach them about print and its continuing value, and the importance of multichannel distribution.
• Don’t automatically dismiss what might seem an over-the-edge idea; if you dismiss it, explain why in a reasoned manner.
• Depending on their skills and role, let them lead a project that is cross-departmental, to get a sense of the big picture.
• Mostly, don’t have them banging square pegs into square holes all day. Challenge them.
Newspaper survival – and return to profitability – is based on a complex set of buildings blocks. New digital savvy employees and what they bring are one of those key blocks.