Dean Baquet addressing students and faculty at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication.
New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet, a New Orleans native, visited LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication Monday.
In an afternoon address, the Q&A that followed and in an informal chat with the staff of the Daily Reveille, Baquet expressed excitement about changes in journalism and stressed that our mission as journalists is more important than the platforms we publish on.
These tweets from Manship School students best summarize some of his key points:
.@deanbaquet; find difference between mission and tradition
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
@deanbaquet‘s advice to future journalists: Make your own rules. Be bold. Be great. @ManshipSchool
— Chelsea Rainwater (@chelrainwater) November 30, 2015
@deanbaquet: “Don’t let anyone tell you journalism is dead. It’s better than ever.”
— Rachel Nicole Price (@RachelNPrice95) November 30, 2015
For more detail, here are tweets from Baquet’s speech (including some interaction from Twitter):
@nytimes editor and St. Aug alum @deanbaquet talks about the future of journalism at the @ManshipSchool #Lsu pic.twitter.com/6x04loMAf3
— Black Communicators (@lsublackcomm) November 30, 2015
NYT executive editor @deanbaquet speaking at #LSU. Opened with “I was going to announce I’m succeeding Les Miles.” pic.twitter.com/kPEly3eGaj
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet recalls ’95 OK bombing coverage, before 9/11 “seared our nation’s soul. Reporters use phone books to track down sources.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet: Journalism is not threatened, but biz model of great journo orgs are threatened.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
News organizations will have to fight for their lives, and many will not survive. @deanbaquet says he fears the dissolution of local news.
— Chelsea Rainwater (@chelrainwater) November 30, 2015
Pyramid style of reporting is under threat & probably shouldn’t survive, @deanbaquet says.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
Lesson 1: journalist have to lead @deanbaquet says we have to participate in future of journalism
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
Pro-tip via @deanbaquet: Journalists must understand revenue and think of their own ideas
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
Lesson 2: print is great but it is just another platform. @deanbaquet says to prioritize up to min stories
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
“Print is great, but it is just another platform.” @deanbaquet is absolutely right. @ManshipSchool pic.twitter.com/YjRYv4ji0l
— Chelsea Rainwater (@chelrainwater) November 30, 2015
At @nytimes top editors still meet every morning, but “print” isn’t mentioned. Instead, what is the biggest story rn? Best way to cover?
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
Lesson 3: don’t be shy about the needs to understand your readers. @deanbaquet says listen to readers to build audience
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
Understanding your audience is paramount, emphasizes @deanbaquet. @ManshipSchool
— Chelsea Rainwater (@chelrainwater) November 30, 2015
“The greatest revolution going on in the newsroom right now is the understanding we have to understand our readers,” @deanbaquet says. #Amen
— John Gavin Harp (@SirJohnGavin) November 30, 2015
Ppl eat up political stories early in the a.m. Figure that out and you’re gold says @deanbaquet
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet: Be fresh and open to new ideas, don’t get stuck in tradition and say yes more often than not
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
Be sure that people w/o power have as much information they need to be able to navigate the world as much as those with power – @deanbaquet
— Bria Felicien (@curlyscribe) November 30, 2015
Be big, ambitious and great @lsureveille staff, @deanbaquet said so
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
Huge thanks to @ManshipSchool for hosting @nytimes editor @deanbaquet! “Be big, ambitious, and great.” pic.twitter.com/BuabhWnN7I
— Lauren Heffker (@laurheffker) November 30, 2015
“Your goal in journalism should be to be big, ambitious, and great.” Was honored to hear Dean Baquet, editor of NYT today.
— Madeline Rathle (@madeline_rathle) November 30, 2015
On anonymous sources @deanbaquet says we use em’ too much, but they are still important
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet laughs, pointing at me when asked about unnamed sources, acknowledges how important they are. My post: https://t.co/O1OAVC4ezb
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet agrees w/ me: Unnamed sources should be used only on important stories.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
Inverted pyramid #journalism style is dated. @deanbaquet says we have to write conversationally. Fight for reader attention
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
@deanbaquet says, “I want lots of news organizations to survive and compete. The more the merrier.” @ManshipSchool
— Chelsea Rainwater (@chelrainwater) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet: Best thing that happened to @nytimes: Jeff Bezos buying WaPo, giving strong digital competitor to Times.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
@lpolgreen @mlcalderone @jfdulac I’m with @deanbaquet on this one: https://t.co/jsxAO0zLnw
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 1, 2015
Speaking of the Times vs. The Post, this is what @deanbaquet said recently on Charlie Rose about @PostBaron pic.twitter.com/aBrFWOfMW7
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 1, 2015
On @SavDickinson‘s question about ethics in the Digital Age, Dean Baquet is echoing a lot of what we’ve talked about in @jceppos‘ class!
— Noah! Bryant Ballard (@NoahhhBallard) November 30, 2015
“We’ll keep national correspondents” & foreign bureaus, @deanbaquet says.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
Understand how your beat, country, region work and be open minded if you want to work for @deanbaquet
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
When @deanbaquet sends reporter out on story, he’s most happy when the resulting story surprises him.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet Not reporting is a political decision when you have the story. It doesn’t feel good, but it’s powerful. It should be rare.
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
Journalism should be fun says @deanbaquet 🎉👍🙌
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
Journalism should be fun, @deanbaquet, but multimedia journalism like VR & liveblogging are about good journalism, not fun.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
Reporting on entertainment a priority, “but not all entertainment is important. I don’t want to know about the Kardashians” sez @deanbaquet
— Bryn Stole (@BrynStole) November 30, 2015
Even though he doesn’t tweet, @deanbaquet reads tweets, loves Facebook.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet: Spends ‘way too much time’ on FB
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet admits he was appalled when @nytimes started using color photography. That was ridiculous clinging to tradition.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet tells of coherent, cogent exchange w/ Jay Carney on Medium on @nytimes story on Amazon.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet on increasing diversity at @nytimes: You find good people and you hire them.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
.@mathewi Probably a 140 problem. His answer was better than my tweet. My post on topic covers similar ground. https://t.co/naWt73F9Kd
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet: You can’t cover the country with ppl who don’t look, think like the country
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
Pictures from Baquet’s visit
I didn’t catch all of Baquet’s visit to LSU and Baton Rouge, but these tweets show the different groups he visited with.
I’m swooning inside because he’s here, and I’m not ashamed to say it. https://t.co/xFJrXieLXw
— Wilborn Nobles III (@WilNobles) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet speaking to students from his alma matter @StAugnola. pic.twitter.com/Lt2feJkJhQ
— Manship School (@ManshipSchool) November 30, 2015
.@deanbaquet talks to local journalists at Louie’s Cafe in Baton Rouge over eggs and grits pic.twitter.com/65gdFyojDI
— Maya Lau (@mayalau) November 30, 2015
Looks like the old boys club at @lsureveille pic.twitter.com/D0TEzo10xa
— Fernanda Zamudio (@FernandaZamudio) November 30, 2015
@DeanBaquet, @Ourand_SBJ, @brooksbarnesNYT, @mmassing, @Cue, @stevebuttry you’re in today’s @CNNReliable newsletter: https://t.co/KVyS1ra4UY
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 1, 2015
The Reveille and Advocate both reported on Baquet’s afternoon speech. And here’s a video of the speech:
Dean Baquet from LSU Manship School on Vimeo.
The Buttry Diary 
[…] I’ll note that Baquet visited LSU this month and addressed the use of unnamed sources in his Q&A with students and faculty after an address […]
LikeLike
[…] improved process for handling stories using unnamed sources. The process is outlined in a memo from Executive Editor Dean Baquet, Deputy Executive Editor Matt Purdy and Standards Editor Phil Corbett, and was reported Tuesday by […]
LikeLike