The Biz Blog

By Butch Ward
Distinguished Fellow

On my first full day at the joint NAA/ASNE conference here in Washington, I was reminded, repeatedly, of the power of journalism, well-done.

The opening session, entitled "Making Journalism Matter," highlighted seven examples of excellent public service journalism, all of which relied heavily on new media tools for their impact.

Three hours at the newly-opened Newseum reminded me over and over of the power of journalism to record history, build communities and create indelible images in our minds.

An hour with the winners of this year’s ASNE Writing Awards winners left me thinking about how great journalism is, for its authors, a passion – work that is born of great curiosity, humility and determination.

So I spent the day feeling pretty good about the work journalists have done and can do even more effectively.

But recall that I, like many of you, started my day reading that newsrooms in 2007 had the biggest one-year loss of jobs in 30 years.

That’s why in my mind, at least, the big question facing publishers and editors isn’t whether their newsrooms know how to record history, build communities or create indelible images.

It’s whether we can figure out how to make enough money to pay the journalists who do those things.
Throughout the opening session, the panelists talked about how much more willing journalists are to accept the role new media is playing in their jobs. And several times, the journalists involved in the examples noted that the Web staff of their organizations had been involved from the project’s beginning.

For some newsrooms, this is old news: thinking "Web" at the front end of a story is essential to a good online report. So to the degree that’s happening in newsrooms beyond those represented in this session, that’s good news.

But what about the business challenge? What’s the strategic equivalent to thinking "Web" at the front end of a story? Should the Web be at the center of a successful business strategy? Should something else?

The conference’s second day promises to ask some of those questions. I’m hoping to hear there’s a crucial role for the journalism we celebrated today.