It was 1958 in Atlanta and we were having a Monday morning quarterback session on the Sunday sports section with the publisher, Jack Tarver, when he leaned over and gave me a great piece of advice I tried to follow through the years.
“Gregory, when you put out a newspaper or supervise people, always try to keep a foot in both generations, “he told me.
As I grew older and generations started collecting their own initials–X and Y–I thought I would have to grow a third or fourth foot. But rather than attempting that anatomical trick, it’s a lot wiser to bring people into your newsrooms who represent all of the generations you are hoping to reach.
Things change so quickly. The way we speak. The music we love. The food we eat. The clothes we wear. The technological gadgets we play with. The way we do our work. The manner in which we deal with each other. The extension of the boundaries of what is acceptable and what isn’t. And the list goes on.
No one of us can keep up with it all. A staff that cuts across the generations can, just as a staff that is racially and ethnically diverse can help us understand and relate to our rapidly changing communities.
I have always had a hard time with the notion shared by many colleagues that young people need to go out and gain five years of experience before we will let them into our newsrooms. Maybe it’s because someone gave me a real chance at a young age. Maybe it’s because I have seen so many journalists in their 20s, when given a chance, succeed beyond their own dreams. Dave Lawrence, who became one of our industry’s best, was a managing editor at 27. Tim McGuire, president of ASNE, was an editor at 24.
Or maybe it’s just because it is so much fun to work with young journalists, to watch them grow, and to go on to bigger and better things.
I was reminded of this in recent weeks as Poynter hosted more than 30 college graduates who hope to find places in newsrooms soon. Their enthusiasm, their energy, their raw love for what they are learning was contagious.
If you lead a newsroom and you don’t have that feeling, you are missing something special. And there is no way you can keep a foot in both generations.
But don’t forget the word “both.” The man who gave me that chance 44 years ago to be assistant sports editor of the Atlanta Journal is Furman Bisher. He is still writing three columns a week with the grace and talent he has always shown. And I know an 80-plus arts critic I would love to clone.
So leaders, feel free to jump in with both feet.
