Jessica Birthisel | April 1, 2011
 |
| Photo by Jeremy Hogan |
| From left, Paul Tash, BA'76, Carrie Ritchie, BAJ'08, and Gerry Kern, BA'71, presented a panel discussion on newspapers Thursday night. The talk was part of the school's Speaker Series. |
Related |
Traditional print newspaper companies now are using multimedia, social media and a variety of niche-market print products to overcome ad sales and circulation slumps in a negative economy. Alumni Paul Tash, BA’76, CEO of the St. Petersburg Times, and Gerry Kern, BA’71, editor of the Chicago Tribune, shared their take on the evolution of newspapers from bastions of the news business to organizations responding to dramatic change.
The Roy W. Howard Lecture on Media Leadership panel discussion, moderated by Indianapolis Star reporter Carrie Ritchie, BAJ’08, was part of the School of Journalism’s spring Speaker Series. In celebration of IU journalism’s 100th anniversary, the Speaker Series features distinguished alumni this year.
Ritchie kicked off the discussion with a question about how industry leaders are dealing with the “gloom and doom” attitude about the future of newspapers. Some of the reinvention, Kern said, begins with looking at scope.
“We need to think of ourselves as more than newspapers,” said Kern. “Newspapers are just one of the channels that we publish through.”
The Chicago Tribune, for example, has tried several strategies in the last few years, from expanding blogs to launching a new print product, The Red Eye, which has been successful, he said.
“We’re in the midst of a historic transformation, and it will never end,” said Kern, adding that news organizations have to be willing to devise and try new ideas. The challenge is to keep making changes to keep the industry alive.
 |
| Photo by Jeremy Hogan |
| Chicago Tribune editor Gerry Kern said this "historic transformation" in the news business won't end. |
“The biggest complaint about it is that boxes are empty by the time people get there,” said Tash. This shows creativity shouldn’t just go toward new models, he said, but toward print products as well.
Kern said he sees potential with tablet technology emerging as an alternative to print, though it’s not quite there yet. He also recommends tailoring initiatives to newspapers’ central demographic.
“There’s a core audience that loves the print experience,” said Kern. “Let’s invest in that. Instead of building a product which is really targeted at our least engaged and most price-sensitive people, let’s flip the model. Let’s build something for our most engaged and least price-sensitive people, and let’s add to it… and let’s charge for it. And say, ‘That’s what the price of being able to sustain this journalistic enterprise is all about.’”
 |
| Photo by Jeremy Hogan |
| St. Petersburg Times CEO Paul Tash said he is "bullish" on newspapers, despite the recent woes in the industry. |
Ritchie asked about emerging models that may fit this “niche environment” concept. Tash cited AOL’s Patch, which builds hyperlocal websites “based on low-wage stringers and correspondents,” but said he’s unsure if such a model will produce enough readers to draw advertisers. Low-wage work in journalism can’t replace the “really high-skilled, high-experience” journalism that leads to Pultizer Prizes, said Tash, a Pulitzer Prize board member.
Tash is interested in the development of the Associated Press News Registry Service, which allows publishers to track how their content is used on the Web to see if organizations are “illegally taking, scraping, and making money off our stuff,” he said.
The use of social media continues to be important, said Kern, who said he’d like to see more traffic on his publication sites coming from Facebook and Twitter. Building a community through these tools responds to reader demands, something newspapers have been slow to realize.
Ritchie said Twitter has become a part of her court reporting work, allowing her and her editors to communicate from the courtroom and publish stories faster.
“It really puts you ahead of your competition,” said Ritchie.
In a nod to the journalism students in the audience, Ritchie asked Tash and Kern about skill sets they seek in new hires. In that regard, news organizations haven’t changed much, Tash answered.
“It’s still about going out there and finding out about things nobody else knows, and that somebody doesn’t want you to know,” he said. This is the “irreducible core of journalism.”
 |
| Photo by Jeremy Hogan |
| Sophomore Lauren Kastner greeted Paul Tash after the talk. Kastner was at the Centennial Road Show in St. Petersburg March 16, where Tash spoke. |
“Learn how to follow a line of questioning to get to the truth, to get to the facts,” said Kern. “There’s nothing more valuable than that.”
Industry leadership needs to adapt, too, said Kern.
“We need to take more risks, faster,” said Kern, something the recession prompted the newspaper industry to do.
Tash said the opposite side of taking risks is recognizing when things aren’t working out and snuffing them out before they absorb too many resources.
And, at a time when journalists are feeling beaten down, Tash said industry leaders need to create a sense of possibility again.
“We have to talk about opportunities that are there, particularly opportunities for the people that are coming into the business,” said Tash.
Senior Shabrelle Pollock said she especially enjoyed hearing from alumni.
“It’s really exciting when the school brings back speakers who went here,” said Pollock. “You can relate better to them. You feel like you have a special ‘in’ with them as alumni, like they really care that you succeed.”
Ken and Connie Ritchie of Bloomington also enjoyed the event, but said they were biased, as it was their daughter, Carrie, who moderated.
“We’ve been following her career longer than anybody,” joked her father.
Questions? Comments? Email the Web editor.
