Ryan Sholin wrote recently:
Every newspaper’s push into online innovation (Multimedia, Interactivity, Data) is going to be different, based on its resources (time, money, staff) and community (size, age, attitude).
This is a great reminder, although I’m thinking I disagree with the sentiment somewhat. I have been a big proponent of starting somewhere (see if you can just do one thing … do just one thing), preferably somewhere you have some strengths and resources available. For most people, getting going is key at this point. But once you’re there, what next? Do you just stay with what you’ve done?
The next step is to try new things outside or just beyond your resources and community. This is one of the reasons why those of us who frequent the conference calls of the CICM are so pumped about the innovation that’s possible in the college media space. College students are in a perfect place to experiment, to try new things, and to fail (because you often learn best from failure) with a generation that’s coming of age.
But that option is still there for smaller newspapers as well. Think about where the innovation has come from. Think about Bluffton Today, or Savannahnow or even Roanoke.com. None of these papers is going to crack the top numbers in terms of circulation any time soon. But they have all pushed the envelope on innovation.
And ultimately, these small papers will need innovative efforts just as much as - if not more than - the large circulation dailies, if only to retain staff who want to innovate. A smaller circulation newspaper may be home to a budding database journalist who doesn’t even know it yet. Or a photog who could blossom as a Flash jockey, but hasn’t had the opportunity to train for it.
Yes, you should start with the resources you have. But don’t stop there. Find ways to strengthen those resources, to reinvent them if necessary, to innovate in new ways.
Ryan concluded:
The only way we’re going to find the right answer, the killer app, the takeoff point, and the critical mass is by dancing on the floor that’s laid out in front of us.
Really, the only way we’re going to find the killer app is by dancing to the edge of the floor in front of us and taking a leap.
on Mar 1st, 2007 at 1:04 am
This isn’t one of those comments where I say “No, what I really meant was…”
Because I meant what I said. At one school — or small paper — you might be loaded with sharp photographers interested in building their work into slideshows.
At another paper, you might have those two or three enterprise-style reporters who want to dig deep and build maps and databases out of the information they collect.
In another situation, you could have a partnership with the broadcast majors, or access (or funds to purchase) a dozen point & shoots to hand out to your reporters, and there you are gathering and editing video.
These aren’t limits, these are starting points, meant to encourage innovators to find the hook that works in each newsroom. Start with one thing, like you said, and like I agreed with, but choose a point of entry that fits your resources.
Throwing *everything* at a newsroom at once is a surefire recipe for FUD (that’s fear, uncertainty, doubt, often caused by acronyms).