Losing my remote: Jumping from TV to newspapers

Liz Foreman February 11th, 2008

Eight months ago, I truly lost my remote, leaving my job as manager of a local TV station website to do multimedia work at a metro newspaper. (Well, I actually left for an awesome job that I had to ultimately turn down due to family issues.) Anyway, I’ve gotten questions from TV lifers who are wondering what it’s like to work at a paper, so here goes…

The major differences:

1. Newspapers are bigger
Duh, but there’s just no comprehending this until you work at a paper. I must have met hundreds of people in my first week.

As a result of their size, you will attend more meetings, produce more reports and answer a whole LOT more email. Each project is run by quite a few people in many departments. We occupy several floors of a downtown high-rise. Ya know, it’s just…bigger.

There are also many, many reporters. Sure, newspaper staffs are shrinking, but to someone who has worked in TV for 10 years, the reporting staff seems like an army. Newspapers have the capacity to do in-depth reporting. Awesome!

Newspapers also have editors and copy editors. (I still don’t understand why TV stations don’t have copy editors.)

2. Shhhhhh…..Newspapers are quiet
This is perhaps a tad superficial, though it was a big enough change in environment that I thought it was worth mentioning. Newspapers are nearly on the level of library-quiet. Speaking of, we have our own library and librarians. Isn’t that cool?!? On the other hand, I kinda miss the police scanners echoing through the newsroom.

3. Newspapers are still learning to be urgent
No one runs through the newsroom, arms flapping, crowing that we need to break in to TV programming. Everything is done a little more calmly than I’m used to. Whereas I felt like the cool cucumber at the TV station, the newspaper folks think of me as the nutty lady who runs around. There is probably a happy medium, and TV folks hired to work at newspaper websites can help offer a little more urgency.

4. Newspapers are serious about online
My boss’ mantra: ‘Write for online, update for print’ permeates the newspaper newsroom but the online thinking also extends into other departments for a very good reason - online is a serious money-making component of the business. Although many TV stations are getting more excited about the web, their websites just aren’t bringing in the bucks like newspaper sites are (I know, there are exceptions,) and consequently they just aren’t as serious about it.

5. Newspapers are diving into new things, like video

Many newspapers have been tackling video online but too few have been strategic about it. As a result, newspapers need folks not only to shoot and edit video but also to help the staff understand what types of video will work online and how to monetize their video efforts.

———-

So, what’s a typical newspaper video gig?

Based on my experience, the job is akin to my early days of running a TV news website - you must be a good salesperson, good at collaborating with other departments and religious about communicating what works and doesn’t work.

1. Strategy
As I wrote before, newspapers are seeking to create more regular video content, but this should be done in a consistent way. Haphazard video producing will provide an unpredictable user experience and fewer repeat customers, unless you have users who like guessing if they’ll have a sports video on Mondays and a news video on Tuesdays and so on.

2. Help other people shoot and edit video
Depending on the size of the paper, you may be the only full-time video staffer. In my case, there are two and the other person has been at the paper for more than a decade. This means you will help train still photographers, reporters and other staff to shoot as well.

Gannett, my company, has a corporately-run video training program, however not all newspapers have this luxury. And besides, once folks are trained, they’ll have technical questions galore about the camera, the video editing software, encoding video for the web - you name it. You will, without fail, become a video helpdesk.

3. Tech stuff
Keep in mind that someone on the newspaper staff needs to become a “chief engineer” of sorts, dealing with broken cameras, inventorying equipment, etc. (an award-winning, meticulous videographer takes care of this where I work,) so if this isn’t your bag, this kind of job may not be for you.

There’s also the video player to think about. Gannett is embarking on a solid new video vendor, however, not all newspapers have that benefit. Making sure you have the tools to succeed is always part of the job!

4. Motivate/inspire
I’ll say it again - newspapers are big places. There are many, many initiatives going on at all times. Newspaper video managers are ambassadors - reminding staff that we “do” video, suggesting video ideas during the story planning process and politely saying certain ideas won’t make good videos, motivating newsroom staffers to shoot video and disseminating video statistics so that people can observe traffic growth.

It’s your job to keep up on video trends to help your fellow newspaper folks to understand what is good for revenue and audience, what is do-able and what isn’t. Ultimately, it is the video manager’s job to make video a success on the newspaper’s website.

5. Video revenue
Video is another content/revenue stream, and as audience is expected to grow, so are revenues. I’ve had quite a bit of fun in this area, working with our talented sales team to come up with packages and measure results for clients.

That’s my “lost my remote” list. I’m eager to read your thoughts in the comments area.