You make time for what you want to do

Mindy McAdams responded to my previous post about the death of a kind of “convergence” with a very insightful post of her own: ‘Convergence’ is dead. The entire thing is worth reading, because it catches two competing waves that buffet the news industry: the rush to “transform” and the inertia of the present.

For me, the most relevant part was this:

Many people, maybe most people, tend to get fenced in by what they think is possible. We don’t have money for this (now). We don’t have enough people to do that. We don’t know how to write that code or build that thing. We don’t have enough time.

So we just won’t do it.

In Nebraska this weekend, one of the things I attempted to do was remove the idea that there was a huge barrier to entry in terms of cost or material resources.

When I left the office of the Daily Nebraskan, I pointed out that every one of the students had now edited a piece of audio, edited video, created and written a weblog, and, created an audio slideshow, and experienced the joys of creating new web 2.0 user accounts. There are so many things you can do with a minimum investment of funds. And there are all kinds of free tutorials on the web for learning new techniques.

But the time and commitment are another issue entirely. That was one of the questions that arose this weekend. The editor of the Daily Nebraskan asked “How do we make this (web/digital/online storytelling) a priority, when we’re trying to put out a daily paper with an already-overcommitted staff?” That’s the gist of the question.

My response was one that I use a lot: “I don’t know.” Really, the answer will vary from staff to staff and person to person. But I do know this: You make time for the things you think are important. If your staff isn’t making time to use the web as a platform for better journalism, that says something about how important you think the web is.

I’m often asked “How do you find time?” to do this weblog, to keep up with college media, etc. I find time because I enjoy it. It’s something I’m passionate about, and I want to share what I find. The same equation holds true for college media. If you think the web is important - you will find the time. It may require some creative thinking in terms of staff assignments, publication schedule, or resource allocation. But if it’s important, you’ll make it a priority.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite