FROM: KEVIN KEANE
March 12, 2008

Today we’re announcing the launch of the NewPaper Project, a comprehensive examination of the newsgathering priorities for Bay Area News Group – East Bay, both now and in the future.

The NewPaper Project will impact every department of our news operation, and EVERYONE – from news clerks to senior managers – will be asked to participate. We will also be asking readers – and non-readers – for feedback, with the goal of having a working blueprint for change later this year, after the JazBox rollout is complete.

We’re calling it NewPaper, but we’ll focus on every facet of newsgathering, both in print and online. No examination of the news business in 2008 would be complete if it failed to look at the impact changing reader habits and new technologies were having on our ability to deliver the news. Content needs to be provided when people want it and in formats they find useful and convenient, and our newsrooms need to adjust to these challenging reader demands.

We’re launching NewPaper partly in response to the recent buyouts. Undoubtedly we’re a different news organization today than we were yesterday. Every department in the newsroom was impacted by the staff reductions. We will miss the experience and expertise of our departing colleagues, just as we will miss their friendship and support.

With the reduction in force, we would be foolish to continue with business as usual. To sit still and not re-examine our newsroom operations in the wake of the staff reductions would guarantee that we would not only be a different news operation, but that we’d be a worse one. Given the commitment of local management and the quality of the journalists who continue to work here, that need not be the case.

I will not ask you to do more with less. But I will ask you to challenge your assumptions on what readers expect of us and how to best use our time. You should consider the NewPaper Project a unique opportunity to re-examine everything, from what we find front-page worthy to how our news pages are designed and presented. Ask yourself how you would put together a locally focused news operation of our breadth and size if you were to start one from scratch.

For the sake of the NewPaper discussion, we must assume that the business model of newspapers has been permanently altered, and that we will never be able to support a fulltime news operation larger than what we have now.

How, then, do we continue to cover the stories that readers have come to expect of us, and how do we respond to the challenges – and time impositions – posed by the ever-changing online world? Does community journalism hold the key, or do we develop a more professionally trained and reliable network of freelancers? If so, how do we best use our fulltime staff? What are our story priorities? And how should content be shared across mastheads?

Perhaps we should shrink our coverage area and concentrate on what we know we can still cover well given the size of our staff. Or form regional partnerships with other media. With pressure to reduce newsprint consumption, should we combine sections on certain days? How should our papers be organized and zoned? And what elements of design should we embrace?

Some of these issues can be addressed as a large group, but every masthead and department will have their own unique questions as well. The challenges facing the San Mateo County Times, for instance, are far different than those in the Tri-Valley or in East County. And features can be a universe apart from the challenges in sports and business. So to be effective, the NewPaper Project will need to be organized accordingly.

SOME GIVENS

Here are the underlying principles that will guide our discussions moving forward:

1- JOURNALISM MATTERS. Fairness. Accuracy. Balance. Context. Analysis. Informed opinion. It’s what feeds our credibility.

2- OUR MISSION REMAINS THE SAME: To provide local content that is both unique and relevant to our readers and our communities.

3- FEWER PEOPLE DOES NOT MEAN THAT OUR COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE HAS DIMINISHED. We will invest – yes, invest – in staff development and training, and devote appropriate resources to watchdog and investigative journalism.

4- WE WILL NOT FIND THE FUTURE BY DWELLING ON THE PAST. What we did before was very good, but we can be better.

5 – NEWSPAPERS NEED TO MAKE MONEY TO SURVIVE. And right now they’re making a lot less than they did before. We need to be open to new products if we’re to reach different readers.

6- NEVER FORGET THE ART OF STORYTELLING. Good, informed narrative and explanatory writing is essential to keep readers engaged.

7- THE INFORMATION AGE AIN’T OVER. Not by a long shot. We must be ready for the challenges and opportunities presented by the Next Big Thing in technology, whatever it may be.

METHODOLOGY, OR HOW WE’LL DO IT

A single task force will oversee the project and compile results. This master task force will be chaired by me and include volunteers from all levels of the newsroom, from senior managers to line editors and reporters.

It’s important that all departments contribute and buy in to the final blueprint. It’s also important that the discussion be frank and honest as we work through the various newsroom scenarios. We also don’t want to give unfair advantage to our media competitors. So please respect your colleagues and keep all discussions confidential to allow for the free-flow of ideas and debate.

The first few meetings of the task force will be spent coming up with a list of specific questions and issues that need to be addressed. They can be broad and philosophical or detailed and specific, down to a priority list of story lines and news projects. The master task force also will be looking to make recommendations on design, sectioning and presentation.

At the same time, we’ll ask the individual masthead editors and department heads to form their own task forces on site-specific or department-specific issues. Here’s how the groups will be broken down:

Features/online entertainment
Sports
Business
Tribune
TVH/VT/SJH
CCT metro
East County
West County
Argus/Review
SMCT (with the PADN)
Online/multimedia
Graphics/photo
Weeklies/Hills
Opinion

Some departments and editions – at the Tribune and in features, for instance — have already formed internal working groups and have a jump start on the rest of us. Others will need to start from scratch. We will also be looking for input from reader and non-reader focus groups as we develop a list of newsroom priorities.

Along the way we’ll be asking for contributions from advertising, circulation and other departments within our own organization, as they all have a stake in the outcome. All of this will be compiled into a written report that will be the blueprint for how our newsrooms are organized and function. I’m setting a goal of Sept. 1, recognizing that the rollout of the JazBox system will dominate much of our time over the next few months.

I can assure you that NewPaper will not sit on a shelf and gather dust. Our goal is bring about real changes that will ultimately make us a better news organization. I fully expect that different positions may be created within the newsroom to carry out the recommendations of NewPaper. It will also be used in allocating resources in the next newsroom budget.

TRAINING

Staff training and professional development will be a top priority in the redefined BANG-EB newsroom, particularly as it relates to narrative storytelling and new technologies. Regional training programs involving travel will be considered on a case-by-case, first-come basis. Additionally, interested staffers are encouraged to apply for national and international fellowships sponsored by the various universities and news organizations.

* We will be expanding our in-house training opportunities at all levels beginning next week, when the APME will be lead a course in database research at the San Ramon CNP facility. The course is part of a national project to explore the influence of money in politics, sponsored by the APME. Martin Reynolds of the Oakland Tribune has been asked to moderate the San Ramon session. It’s especially appropriate for journalists with no experience in computer assisted reporting. The class is open to all newspapers in Northern California and class size is limited, if you’re interested please notify Martin by email immediately.

* Making use of our in-house experience, investigative reporter Tom Peele will hold a series of seminars on computer assisted reporting techniques that take advantage of the Web access and spreadsheet capabilities of the updated computer system. Tom’s first session will be held April, and more will be held through the spring and summer. Contact Tom immediately if you’re interested in signing up for his first session.

* Meanwhile, Ari Soglin and his multimedia teams will be visiting BANG-EB newsrooms to conduct sessions on Web-based storytelling. Each session will last about 90 minutes and will cover:

* Breaking news – how to post stories online in a 24/7 news environment.

* Video storytelling – shooting and downloading breaking news video

* Blogging opportunities for beat writers

* Writing suggested Web headlines
* Database links and mashups.

Ari will be announcing a schedule over the next few weeks. We strongly encourage every reporter, photographer and editor at BANG-EB to attend one of these sessions.

MENTORING OPPORTUNITIES

The Oakland Tribune has been recognized nationally for its support of local high school journalists. For the past three years, students from eight high schools in the city have contributed stories and photos to a monthly student newspaper that the company prints free of charge and distributes throughout the school district.

The students work directly with volunteer journalists from the Tribune on newswriting, page design and layout through regular after-school seminars. A team of freelance editors edit copy and help the students through the reporting process, with the end result being a newspaper of exceptional quality. (Copies are available for anyone interested in taking a look).

This year the program has been expanded to Contra Costa thanks to a substantial grant from the Lesher Foundation. The money is being used to purchase computers and software at some of the county’s more impoverished schools. The CCT has held a number of student seminars recently, including one on journalism ethics run by attorney Karl Olson, and the first papers are to be printed in the spring semester.

The reporters and editors who have volunteered in these programs in the past have found them exceedingly rewarding. Your participation is strongly encouraged. Just shoot me an email if you’re interested.

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

We will be relaunching the Employee of the Month program for all newsroom employees in BANG-EB. It’s been tweaked to adjust for the number of mastheads and editions. Any feedback on how to further simplify the process would be appreciated.

Once a month, each news group will select “best of” winners from staff submissions. Categories include:

* Mastheads/editions
o Best news story
o Best narrative
o Best enterprise

* Regional news team
o Best news story
o Best narrative
o Best enterprise/series

* Features
o Best story
o Best column
o Best enterprise

* Business
o Best story
o Best enterprise
o Best explanatory/narrative

* Photo/graphics
o Best picture
o Best picture-story
o Best information graphic
o Most creative

* Weeklies/Hills
o Best story
o Best narrative
o Best beat coverage

* Production/copy desk
o Best headline
o Best deadline performance
o Best page design (page one)
o Best page design (inside)

* Online
o Best spot news performance
o Best video
o Best audio slideshow
o Best use of reader interactivity
o Best blog

Monthly winners will be selected by supervisory editors with input from AMEs. Winners will be given gift cards.

Once a quarter, BANG-EB best-of winners will be selected from the group winners in the three previous months. Winners will be given cash stipends.

Categories:

* Best story
* Best narrative
* Best column
* Best photo
* Best graphic
* Best use of online
* Best deadline/online performance

It’s been great to hear so many thoughtful questions lately. Journalists are skeptics, so it’s no surprise. And we’ve been working hard to reach everyone we haven’t talked to yet, and to check in with the undecided.

Most understand that a guild contract ensures minimum standards for pay and benefits, and can also offer some protection from unfavorable workplace changes. But some remain fuzzy about how the guild promotes quality journalism, both directly and indirectly. (more…)