Jill Geisler
Nov. 3, 2014
1:00 pm
This is the core message of my teaching: The most important things leaders do is help other people succeed.
So what happens when they indeed succeed, and in a really big way? What’s your responsibility when a member of your team builds a massive fan base, wins coveted awards, or rakes in high revenues for your organization?
Congratulations, You get to manage a star – with all the joys and challenges that accompany that responsibility.
I hope I haven’t frightened you.
Not all stars are problematic, although recent high profile management/star conflicts (Jian Ghomeshi, Bill Simmons, Don Surber) might leave that impression.
How stars wield the clout born of their contributions determines whether they’re what I call “low maintenance” or “high maintenance.”
Low maintenance stars are collegial, productive, interested in the organization as well as themselves, and committed to core values including integrity and quality. Read more
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Kelly McBride
Nov. 2, 2014
12:47 am
Former New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson shed light this weekend on her plans with Steven Brill to grow a start up.
Writers will be paid advances around $100,000 to produce stories that will be longer than long magazine articles but shorter than books, she said. There will be “one perfect whale of a story” each month and it will be available by subscription.
She discussed her plans during an hour-long keynote interview at Journalism & Women Symposium’s annual Conference and Mentoring Project. She declined to name any funders. She and Brill haven’t settled on a name yet.
She first talked about this venture two weeks ago during a WBUR event with David Carr. Brill is an award-winning long-form journalist who created Court TV, and is most recently known for his 26,000 word investigation on health care billing that became the longest piece by a single author ever run by Time Magazine. Read more
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Ken White
Oct. 5, 2014
10:57 pm
The task of covering Ebola is a tricky one for the media.
Too much coverage, and we look like we’re being exploitative with scare tactics. Too little coverage, and we get blamed for not enlightening our audience of its scope.
An unidentified may wears a mask as he walks back from taking out garbage across the street from an apartment complex where Thomas Eric Duncan, the Ebola patient who traveled from Liberia to Dallas, stayed last week. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
A vivid photo this weekend that made its way into a lot of newspapers showed an unnamed man taking his garbage out, across the street from the apartment complex where Ebola victim Thomas Duncan lives.
The man wore a mask.
Remember when Magic Johnson was first diagnosed with having HIV? Many of his teammates, opponents and fans were upset when he came out of his self-imposed retirement to play in the All Star game. Read more
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Jill Geisler
Oct. 2, 2014
1:29 pm
I work with managers and non-managers alike who want to become better at listening. I’ve read books on it, written columns, and teach sessions on the essentials of the skill.
And then I met journalist E. S. Isaac of India and got a better education on what it means to truly listen.
During a dinner conversation before a week-long leadership seminar at Poynter, Isaac shared his insights. He grew up in rural Chhattisgarh, in Central India. His parents were illiterate. But his father, Benbarisi Isaac, was his best teacher.
I found what E. S. Isaac said — and how he said it — to be so meaningful that I asked his permission to record and share his thoughts.
I think this will be the best three minutes you spend today.
Who is this wise man?
Isaac oversees Doordarshan Television’s international channel DDIndia. He manages the sports programming on DDSports, reaching 143 countries across the world. Read more
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Butch Ward
Sep. 29, 2014
10:49 am
The past few weeks have not been much of an upper for those tracking the health of the news business. More layoffs. New (and increasingly meager) buyouts. And the downsizing strategy that promises to grow ever more popular back at Corporate:
All staffers must reapply for their jobs.
Only the delusional suggest this is a cycle from which we will emerge. Increasingly, editors know this is their reality:
I have fewer people this year than last, and I’ll have fewer still next year.
I remember feeling like this about 15 years ago when my newsroom in Philadelphia was in the midst of its latest “right-sizing.” Looking for a way to recharge my batteries, I asked 12 of my colleagues to join me for lunch and bring stories that reminded them why they did journalism. It was great. We laughed, we cried, and we left the room a bit more aware that what we did mattered. Read more
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Kenneth Irby
Sep. 26, 2014
8:55 am
In just about one year’s time National Geographic’s Keith Jenkins has gone from director of photography to executive editor for digital content to general manager, National Geographic Digital.
Jenkins will be charged with restructuring, reimagining and elevating the venerable organization in the digital space.
In a recent telephone interview with Poynter’s Kenny Irby, Keith shared plans and hopes for the future of NatGeo digital.
Keith Jenkins, to General Manager, National Geographic Digital and Kenny Irby, Senior Faculty, Visual Journalism and Diversity and Director of Community Relations, The Poynter Institute, June 2014. (Photo by Karen Irby)
Poynter.org: Tell me about the new role and your goal?
Jenkins: Well we are restructuring around our digital agenda for the organization and my role specifically is to make that happen and to set some priorities for (NatGeo) around digital media, but also more importantly transitioning parts of the organization from traditional print and or TV based programming to things that work online and over the internet and on mobile. Read more
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Rick Edmonds
Sep. 2, 2014
1:58 pm
Katharine Weymouth (Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
In a word, unsurprising. Katharine Weymouth’s
announced resignation today as Washington Post publisher simply completes the ownership change initiated a year and a month ago when Amazon’s Jeff Bezos bought the paper.
Neither Bezos nor Weymouth were commenting (even to the Post) about the circumstances and timing of the change, though the New York Times reported it was initiated by Bezos. My guess would have been that she had agreed to stay on for a transitional year as part of the sale, but perhaps she was trying out for a longer tenure with the new owner.
It is hard to call Weymouth’s six-plus years as publisher a success, but I wouldn’t say she failed in the job either. She took control at the worst possible time in 2008 as the deep recession accelerated the precipitous decline of print advertising, especially at metro papers. Read more
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Butch Ward
Sep. 1, 2014
9:49 am
Update: FIU provides credential for Miami Herald’s beat reporter
After denying access to Miami Herald beat writer David J. Neal for the football team’s opening game last Saturday, Florida International University has decided to credential him for the remainder of the season, according to Paul Dodson, the school’s assistant athletic director for media relations.
This weekend, Florida International University opened its 2014 football season at home in Miami against Bethune-Cookman University. The game was close, ending when FIU fumbled a field goal attempt that would have won the game as time ran out.
Pretty good game, I’m guessing. But I’m only going on the six paragraphs that ran on the Miami Herald’s website under a byline: “From Miami Herald Wire Services.”
The Herald decided not to cover the game. Why?
Because FIU refused to give a press pass to the Herald’s FIU beat reporter, David J. Neal.
In a statement issued Saturday and placed atop the Herald’s original story on the flap, FIU said:
“We did not issue a media credential to the Herald’s beat reporter because of concerns we have brought up to the Herald’s reporter and editors over the past few years about the reporter’s interactions with our student athletes, coaches, and staff and the nature of the resulting coverage.”
“As far as we can tell,” Managing Editor Rick Hirsch said in the Herald’ story, “David has done a diligent, thorough job of reporting on the Golden Panthers. Read more
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Jill Geisler
Aug. 29, 2014
12:00 pm
If you’re feeling swamped at work these days, you’re not alone. I’m not talking “I don’t get to go out for lunch very often” busy. I mean “I’m buried in work, never fully off the clock and still feel I’m letting people down” busy. I hear it regularly from the managers I teach and coach.
It’s a function of the downsized staffing but increased demands and responsibilities in changing organizations.
The story is familiar: to hit budget numbers, the company cuts head count but leaves fully intact the expectation of quality, service and measurable results. (I’ll give CNN president Jeff Zucker credit. Referencing the depressing specter of buyouts and layoffs, he didn’t try to spin it as some great opportunity for the survivors to work smarter, not harder. He said “We are going to do less and have to do it with less.”)
But what about those who are doing so much, perhaps too much, these days? Read more
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Jill Geisler
Aug. 16, 2014
10:19 pm
Here’s what a lifetime in journalism has taught me: Breaking news reveals the true character of a newsroom’s culture and quality.
Spot news success happens in cultures with specific systems, skills, values, mindsets – and leadership.
In the healthiest cultures, when news breaks, here’s what staffers can count on:
- We have a plan. We don’t have to scramble to figure out how to respond each time a big story breaks. Everyone on our team has an understanding of the key roles that need to be filled – both in the field and at the mother ship. We automatically call in and report for duty. We adapt the basic plan by situation and story, and we’re never caught flat-footed.
- It doesn’t matter if our boss is on vacation. Deputies and team members are capable of making tough decisions and deploying resources because our leader routinely shares information and power. (No one has to say, “What would the boss do?” We know what WE should do.) We know who’s in charge and we know we’re all responsible.
Read more
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