How Favre can save journalism

When will Stuff White People Like put up an entry for Brett Favre?

 

I would agree with that. I know it's well-intentioned, but it comes across as so goddamned condescending...

 

I stopped reading when she said she used to go to Lambeau Field when it was called Packer Stadium. It was actually called City Stadium.

 

Ugh, I agree with the sentiments above. She trying to be the Rick Warren for editors?
When was the last time an editor paid out of his own pocket to bring his staff with him or her to accept an award out of town?

I've worked for an editor who embodies many of the qualities the piece advocated. He's been mentioned on this board before. He works in Spokane.
That said, I've attended dozens of meetings to innovate a paper and make it better and I can't think of any ideas that were adopted. Not that any of them were a magic bullet, but it did kind of make me realized most editors are more interested in appearing to try to improve a paper than actually improving it.

This is the kind of stuff you hear at Poynter seminars - you get the feeling that these big-name types haven't set foot in a real newsroom or pounded out more than two stories a week for a decade.

 

I agree with the sentiment. I don't think they have anything against improving the paper, but the priority is being able to hand the publisher a list of "we dids" every year to get a raise, bonus or both. And I also believe that although there are some newsrooms where this isn't true, in many of them the source of a good idea has a lot to do with how the idea is received. In some newsrooms, you could have an idea for something that would save the paper, but the editor won't implement it if he has to credit someone he doesn't like. There is way too much of that in the biz.

 

Well, might as well say it and take my lumps. I read this yesterday, and I actually thought most of the analogies were pretty good.

 

So did I.