(Michael P. Smith)

Many editors got into the newspaper business because they have a deep passion for journalism. They become disgruntled when they spend so much time putting out management fires and attending meetings that keep them away from journalism.

New technology, which has brought us the Internet and email, seem to take more time away from editing. It becomes a task to think in terms of getting good stories into multiple media platforms.

Often the Media Management Center is asked how we would approach a specific motivation problem. Sometimes the question deals with motivating senior reporters, sometimes the questions involve getting reporters to write a specific way or to do a specific story, and other times the problems concern focusing reporters on the interests of readers.

There is no magic wand of management that an editor can wave. But there are some tricks of the trade that editors have used successfully. They share some of those ideas here.


Motivating older workers
Newspapers value seasoned employees for the knowledge that they bring to the job and their historical insights into the community. They also can be valuable resources to newer reporters who are just learning about the craft of journalism or who are new to the community. The problem arises when you want them to do something different than they have been doing for several years. The question most asked is how do you teach an old dog new tricks?

My response is to remind the editor to think about the career of someone who may be 60 years old today. They have seen dramatic changed in the way that newspapers have been produced and the way that stories have been delivered – from manual typewriters to the digital approaches of today. So they may have dragged their feet, but they have learned new tricks. Getting them to write differently - say using new sources, or working with a designer or writing shorter stories – is asking them to learn new tricks.

Some newspapers, Clarin in Buenos Aires comes to mind, solve the problem of a reporter getting too comfortable in the job by rotating beat assignments every two years or so. This forces the reporter to learn new beats, use different sources and think of more compelling ways to tell the story.

Faced with a barrage of questions about older reporters in the late 1990s, the Media Management Center conducted research into the question. Sharon Peters, PhD, now editor of the Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colorado, headed the research. She sought reporters who were older and yet in the prime of their career. Her research surfaced several prescriptions for motivating senior reporters.

The research discovered that many of the senior reporters felt as if they were not valued for their perspective. So Peters recommended that special programs should be developed to turn the senior reporters into tutors for younger reporters who are new to the paper. Sometimes the pairing of a veteran writer with a new graphics artist allowed each of the employees to learn from each other.

The research also showed that most of the training money in newsroom budgets was spent on young reporters, not the senior reporters. Many of the veteran writers complained that they hadn't been to a training seminar in years. So the prescription would be for the newspaper to find ways to expose the veteran reporters to new ideas and training.

One common characteristic of the senior reporters in the study was that at one time in their career they had been moved away from reporting and were put on an assignment desk.

Being an editor was a terrible experience for them. It was so horrible in fact, that it motivated them to become better reporters. Having seen what life was like from the management perspective inspired them to be better at reporting. This fact argues for cross-training – exposing reporters to life in other areas of the newspaper (copy editing, photography, design, graphics, assigning, etc.) so they learn how their work impacts others.

Peters believe that editors are sitting on a gold mine of talent that is untapped.

---

Being a veteran reporter does not necessarily mean being burned-out and out-of-touch, at least not in America's newsrooms.

In Their Prime: Motivating Senior Reporters, by Sharon L. Peters, an editor and a specialist in organizational development, provides valuable information about the attitudes of top-performing reporters in their 40's and 50's. The insights from these high-performing reporters promise to be a valuable tool for understanding and motivating the entire newsroom.

Download a free copy here.

---

Getting the story you want
Newspapers also value the independence of reporters and give beat reporters great flexibility in how their beat should be covered. But there always comes a time when the editor sees a different aspect to the story or sees a totally new story and wants the reporter to pursue the idea. That's when reporters assert their independence and the tango becomes a confrontation.

Denise Joyce, editor of the Chicago Tribune's Q section, says it should never come to that. "My initial reaction is to talk with the reporter in sort of a 'let's make a deal' way," says Joyce. "For instance, for every two or three (or six or 26!) stories they do that I want done, I agree to let them pursue something near and dear to their heart. Deadlines, story length, approaches, etc. all must be carefully spelled out, of course."

Steve Duke, a former newspaper editor who heads up the training of editors for the Readership Institute, thinks that what Joyce prescribes does not happen often, or at least often enough. He hints that editors may be too weary to confront a reporter and tell the reporter what to do. He says: "There is a reason editors got promoted and get to sit behind the big desk. It's because they do know what needs to be done, and they shouldn't be embarrassed or shy or apologetic about saying so."

"So, first step: have confidence in your convictions," he continues. "Second, articulate those convictions frequently and widely. It's just like advertising - you need both reach and frequency. People don't hear it the first or even the 10th time."

Duke also suggests: "Demonstrate exactly what you want. If leads are too convoluted and institutional, then rewrite reporters' leads everyday on every story until they get the message. If pictures are too small, stand over the page designer every night and say 'bigger... bigger... bigger' until they get the message. If stories are too long, offer the reporter the choice of cutting it or having it cut."

Duke is suggesting Management 101: Tell the reporters what you want, set goals, set expectations, follow through, and make sure that there are repercussions for noncompliance. The Tribune's Joyce offers a caveat to that: "Through the years, I've learned that it's really unproductive to force reporters to do stories they don't want to do. Maybe there's a way to get the reporter's ideas and the editor's to mesh in some way... it's worth a try!"

---

Writing a Good Lead
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, David Newhouse, executive editor of The Patriot-News, practices what Steve Duke preaches about rewriting leads to make them shorter, to eliminate jargon and to make them more interesting. Here are two examples:

Sample 1
The original lead:
Representatives of the state's telephone industry told members of a House committee yesterday that an industry-backed bill to re-authorize the Chapter 30 broadband law of 1993 would be good for consumers and would not have the damaging effects predicted by critics.

Lead rewritten to focus on the reader:
Do Pennsylvania consumers have it good enough, when it comes to getting Internet access from their phone company? Or should they have it better?

Sample 2
The original lead:
The state Department of Health issued a warning to area hospitals and medical providers yesterday about a Canadian nurse who is possibly infected with the potentially fatal severe acute respiratory syndrome and was being treated at a Shippensburg medical center.

Lead rewritten to focus on the reader:
A midstate hospital may have hosted its first SRS victim. Only time will tell.

---

Writing for the Internet
It's hard to imagine that in this highly technological world some editors are still fighting to get reporters to make their work available for the newspaper's Web site. That, however, is still a reality for some.

Bob Jonason, director of www.indystar.com, the Web site of the Indianapolis Star in Indiana, says keeping the Internet at the top of each reporter's mind is a key to getting cooperation.

"We've stationed our online editorial staff in the (print) newsroom so that they work side-by-side with their print counterparts," he said. "They attend newsroom planning meetings and suggest online extras for stories and packages. They collaborate on online teasers for the print edition. They review the print news budget to identify stories that will break during the day, then contact the reporters and request that they file immediately for online. If reporters are pressed for time, the online editors will take notes over the phone and write the stories themselves. It's a throwback to the 'get me rewrite' days."

The approach seems to be paying off for the Star. Says Jonason: "Reporters have grown to see the benefit of filing immediately for online. In addition to getting the satisfaction of 'scooping' the competition, they get more time to examine that first draft and add more depth for the print edition. Often, they receive instant feedback from the online readers on the merits or flaws of a story, feedback that can help improve the report for the print newspaper."

Keeping the reporters involved beyond reporting helps build the relationship between print and Web. Indystar.com encourages reporters to participate in chats or produce Weblogs. Sports reporters moderate online forums where they answer questions about local sports teams. In addition, Jonason says, "The online staff has provided training on digital cameras and audio recorders to encourage their use. They brainstorm with reporters on the best way to tell a story online. Smart reporters know that these skills make them more marketable, as the Web becomes a more integral part of news organizations."


Focusing on readers
A question near and dear to the heart of the Readership Institute at Northwestern deals with overcoming the cultural barriers that prevent journalists from being interest in the lives of readers.

Editors and researchers offer practical advice on how to get reporters to focus on readers. Mary Nesbitt, a former editor who is Managing Director of the Readership Institute, says teaching the staff is key.

"Be opportunistic (strategic) both in the content and with the people you choose to make your stands," Nesbitt says. "By that I mean identify allies (a coalition of the willing) who get it, and stories that will have an impact. Test them, get legitimate positive results and feed that back to the newsroom, complete with video footage of reader reactions. Get legitimate negative reactions to the navel-gazing stuff and feed that back too. That is called teaching. Reward the people responsible for the stuff you want to encourage. That is called bribery."

That teaching moment involves telling the staff what you want, showing them why and then holding them responsible for the results. Gary Graham, Managing Editor of the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington,does it this way: "Explain to them why the reader-focused stories are more important. I would assume they have readership data that gives them clues on what readers are interested in. I might consider a rewards/incentive program that acknowledges the good work that reporters produce that is geared toward building readership. Accuracy, enterprise, meeting deadlines, spelling, are usually part of a standard performance evaluation, why not add a category on building readership. What gets measured gets done, right?"

The Readership Institute's Steve Duke thinks reporters should also use their own journalistic skills and inquiry to understand what readers want. He suggests: "Get reporters exposed directly to readers' views by having them interview readers, or attend focus groups, or hear reader representatives who attend the news conferences, etc. Get them exposed indirectly by having them read reports."

Duke says investigation is not enough: "Having seen and heard readers, have all the reporters participate in developing new approaches to satisfy the reader needs that have been identified. Get a detailed list of 'to do's' - more promotion, stories written to generate talk, pages designed to provide surprise, whatever. Put benchmarks on each element. I.E. we currently run one upcoming content promo on page 1 each week. In three months time we will be doing one each day. We can't remember the last government story written to be 'talkable.' By the end of the quarter we will have one each week. Etc. But the key is getting the staff to come up with a list of ideas. The staff list isn't exclusive. The editor gets to have things on the list, too. But it helps to have some of it come from them."

All of the editors and researchers think an important aspect of getting people to do what you want them to do is to celebrate the success. Sometimes small rewards are a big motivator; sometimes public praise also moves the needle. The bottom line is that you should not forget to recognize the work when a reporter has done what you asked him to do.