Thanks to Tim McGuire for his recent “This I believe” blog post, spelling out his core values and views about journalism, newspapers and the future of media. I think it’s helpful, especially in turbulent times, for journalists (or people in any field) to reflect occasionally on what we believe — core values as well as our beliefs about where our profession and our industry are going. I promised earlier this month to blog a response.
This I believe about journalism and the future of media:
I believe journalism plays an essential role in our democracy.
I believe journalism plays an essential role in community life.
I believe technology and economics have fundamentally changed the delivery and practice of journalism but they have not changed the importance of these roles.
I believe continued and repeated disruption of journalism and the news business will continue for the rest of my career and beyond.
I believe we spend too much time discussing or lamenting whether the journalism that emerges from each wave of disruption is better or worse than what preceded it. Most times it will be a mix. Our responsibility as professional journalists is to improve journalism and continue serving our nation and our communities.
I believe nostalgia for journalism of the past interferes with practicing journalism in the present and with improving it for the future. While I am not immune to nostalgia, I refuse to wallow in it and have little patience or sympathy for those who do.
I believe journalism of the present and future is a blend of sources and types:
- Professional journalists working for news organizations, meeting professional standards of accuracy and ethics.
- Entrepreneurial journalists who may meet professional standards of accuracy and ethics, but also may combine news and business roles.
- Bloggers who may or may not follow professional standards of accuracy and ethics.
- Content creators affiliated with the organizations or industries they are covering, who produce journalism even if they don’t follow the traditional journalism standard of independence.
- Citizens who think of themselves as merely telling friends what is happening, but who are actually doing acts of journalism, sometimes but not always meeting professional standards of accuracy.
- Probably more types of sources that have not yet evolved.
I believe each of these sources and types of journalism has value.
I believe news organizations and professional journalists need to provide significant and distinct value to stand out in this crowded field and to build successful businesses and careers.
I believe trusted news organizations that strive for accuracy and verification have a great opportunity to provide value in this crowded marketplace.
I believe vetting and curating content from other sources will continue to be an important job and opportunity for news organizations and professional journalists.
I believe vigorous debate about the issues and directions of journalism and the news business is healthy.
I believe we can and should conduct this debate frankly, civilly and with thick skins.
I believe age and generation are irrelevant in selecting leaders for news organizations. Experience has value in leaders, but outlook is more important. I will take my chances on a leader with limited experience and an unlimited outlook over an experienced leader who spends too much time looking back.
We won’t always make the right call, but I believe the best leaders are those with the courage and insight to make decisions, not those waiting for someone to tell them what to do.
I believe leaders in journalism and the news business need to lead our newsrooms and our profession in multiple ways:
- By articulating a forward-looking vision.
- By sharing success stories and lessons learned through failure.
- By providing a positive example of action and results.
- By applauding progress, even progress by competitors.
- By understanding and encouraging when other leaders are making genuine efforts and progress but not moving as fast or following the same path.
- By calling bullshit when others present protection of the past as a path to the future.
- By leading and joining lively discussions about the search for the right path(s).
- By forming alliances on common ground even with those with whom they have genuine conflicts. I can work with you on Issue A and still respectfully disagree with you, even vigorously, on Issue B.
I believe journalists should constantly be learning and evaluating new tools. We should master the useful ones and use them to improve our journalism.
I believe my journalism toolbox will be dramatically different five years from now.
I believe new tools do not inherently improve or harm journalism. Good journalists using new tools responsibly and creatively will perform better journalism. Bad journalists using new tools thoughtlessly will perform worse journalism.
I believe journalists have an obligation to share lessons as we master new tools.
I believe storytelling is one of the most basic forms of communication. From the ancient epic poems and scriptures to today’s tweets and videos, storytelling has endured and evolved and it will continue to do so. I believe stories will remain an important journalism form, but not the only form.
I believe journalism professors and journalism schools have an obligation to keep current with the changing profession, so they can teach relevant skills, tools and standards to journalists of the future and to professional journalists seeking to advance their education.
I believe corporations involved in journalism:
- Have an obligation to serve their communities.
- Have a right to make a profit.
- Must be bold and aggressive in developing forward-looking business models.
- Must invest in training their employees in emerging tools and skills.
I believe the best chance for survival by corporations involved in journalism will be to develop revenue streams beyond subscriptions and advertising based on audience size.
I believe that the corporate and newsroom cultures of print and broadcast organizations are so entrenched that radical, forceful upheaval is needed to transform to a digital-first focus and culture. Leaders must not shrink from the responsibility to disrupt our newsrooms and our profession in pursuit of a prosperous future.
I believe news organizations and journalists must adapt, evolve and transform to thrive.
I believe journalists who adapt, evolve and transform will have exciting and rewarding careers.
That’s what I believe. I’m interested in your beliefs (or your disagreements with mine and/or Tim’s). If you respond on your own blog, please post a link in the comments here. I wish I could explain my beliefs as succinctly as Crash Davis did. But I do believe in lightening the mood after such a ponderous set of beliefs: