But what was @stevebuttry going to ask about the Times innovation report! I hate cliffhangers #ONA14
— Daniel Tedford (@dgtedford) September 27, 2014
One of the most interesting sessions of the Online News Association conference in Chicago last week was a discussion of the New York Times Innovation report. Andrew Beaujon (a former TBD colleague) wrote an excellent account of the session for Poynter, so I won’t recount it here. But I’ll raise the question I didn’t get to ask. As my friend and former colleague Mandy Jenkins noted, I was lined up at a microphone to take my turn asking questions:
.@jeffjarvis@stevebuttry & @karaswisher are in the question line for NYT folks at #ona14innovate. #ona14http://t.co/eKvg3fIMt9
— Mandy Jenkins (@mjenkins) September 26, 2014
But Swisher and Jarvis both asked follow-up questions and we ran out of time with me at the microphone, next in line. Friends noticed.
.@stevebuttry – what was your question going to be? #ona14innovate
— Cecelia Hanley (@CHanleyRNN) September 27, 2014
@stevebuttry@CHanleyRNN@nytimes I wish you had you shot. Apparently they should leak one ever year.
— Robert Quigley (@robquig) September 27, 2014
Beyond the tweets, that was kind of the greeting for much of the rest of the conference, when I would encounter friends and even strangers (or Twitter friends I had not yet met). Again and again, people asked what I was going to ask.
So here’s my question:
Why didn’t the Times publish the innovation report itself? And what does it say about the issues the report was addressing that the Times did not publish the report itself and was even surprised that it leaked to Buzzfeed and created such a stir?
(Amy O’Leary had opened the panel discussion by telling of her surprise when Buzzfeed published the report.)
>@amyoleary thought she would get fired when the NYT’s innovation report leaked. http://t.co/TtBjNbkSl7 She lived to tell #ONA14 about it.
— Poynter (@Poynter) September 27, 2014
I’ve already blogged twice about the Times report, and I’ve blogged multiple times about the importance of transparency. So I won’t belabor the point here. But I’ll invite O’Leary (or anyone at the Times) to answer in a comment or guest post here, by email — stephenbuttry (at) gmail (dot) com — or on a Times format (I’ll quote it and link to it).
Like Swisher and Jarvis, I’ll include a few follow-up questions, too: Why didn’t the Times publish the report? Was there even a discussion about whether to publish the report and what to do if it leaked? Was the committee satisfied with the watered-down summary that was published, and did anyone think that wouldn’t stimulate interest in obtaining the real report? Has the response to the report increased transparency to the point that such a report would be published today?
Looks like I’ll be getting an answer. I’ll update here when I do (or perhaps make it a separate guest post):
@stevebuttry @tysone @alexmaccallum Sure, Steve. What’s your email? Or follow me so we can DM. Happy to answer that one for your blog…
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 29, 2014
It was an interesting panel, but I want to know more.
Hey #ona14innovate! Thanks for following along. Let us know what questions you have about the @nytimes innovation report.
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
The irony wasn’t lost on us that a competitor was getting huge traffic from a doc we released on paper http://t.co/gKEO3BgKYQ #ona14innovate
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
That was my initial paranoia. Once Buzzfeed media reporter @mylestanzer brought KFC to my house. Proof: https://t.co/fkGSqxvXSz #ONA14
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
That one week in May was a strange one. Lots of things were in the news. http://t.co/ONqCXD106p #ona14innovate #ONA14
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
.@DavidBarstow (http://t.co/fei5y7U8He) is a brilliant reporter. Told us the innovation report raised profound Qs #ONA14 #ona14innovate
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
.@NiemanLab wrote the best summary of the innovation report here: http://t.co/MxTVdQxN8z #ONA14
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
The Innovation Report began as a new product exercise — we pivoted toward our core journalism. #onainnovation http://t.co/ubRpumAkkC #postit
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
The report was never meant to be an exhaustive look at the entire company. #ONA14 #ona14innovate
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
The report was primarily written as persuasive document for top leaders, to highlight areas that needed the most attn #ONA14 #ona14innovate
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
Innovation Rec (1) Hire, Support, Develop Digital Talent to plan for the future #ONA14 #ona14innovate
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
Innovation Rec (2) Protect against “conflict of interest,” but collaborate with groups like technology, product #ONA14 #ona14innovate
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
Innovation Rec (3) Embrace data and analytics to support our journalistic mission. #ONA14 #ona14innovate
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
Innovation Rec (4) Create an “Audience Development” team to expand reach & impact of our journalism #ONA14 #ona14innovate
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
Innovation Rec (5) Realize a report or committee is just a one-time fix. Support strategy as ongoing work. #ONA14 #ona14innovate
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
We are excited to hear your questions about @nytimes an the post-Innovation Report newsroom! #ONA14 #ona14innovate
— Amy O’Leary (@amyoleary) September 26, 2014
.@CHanleyRNN The question I couldn’t ask: Why didn’t @nytimes publish innovation report itself & what does that say about the challenge?
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) September 27, 2014
.@CHanleyRNN Why not publish that themselves & get the million downloads that @BuzzFeed got from the report?
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) September 27, 2014
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