A survey of Digital First Media editorial leaders identified impediments our newsrooms face in pursuing digital success.
The results, illustrated above, weren’t surprising: Many of our newsrooms have outdated equipment (updating it has been a high priority, but it takes time). Newsroom staffs have shrunk the past few years in our companies, as they have in other companies relying on declining print revenues. Training is a high priority as well.
As our CEO John Paton wrote in publishing this word cloud, “Still much to do.”
The survey underscored the urgency of our existing priorities. It reminded me that I probably need to blog and train more on the issue of time management (if only I could find the time).
I agree that all the huge words above are significant obstacles for Digital First journalists. But I tell the newsroom leaders who cited them (and the staff members who certainly would echo them) that these can’t be excuses for not achieving digital success. (I was pleased by the first comment on John’s blog post, from Tom Skoch, editor of the Morning Journal in Lorain, Ohio: “Obstacles fuel our imagination and breed innovation.”)
Here’s what I know: Our success will rest not in our ability to remove obstacles, but in our ability to overcome them. (more…)
The Buttry Diary 