Last Updated: November 09, 1999
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An American Editor
San Diego Union-Tribune’s editor has seen her community
change, and has moved her newsroom ahead to meet the challenge
By Allen Parsons
Karin Winner (pronounced CAR-in) joined The San Diego Union in 1976
after following an unusual path: She was the West Coast editor of Women’s
Wear Daily for seven years, during which time she helped create W magazine.
After coming to work for the paper as a special features editor,
Winner worked her way up. In 1991, at the behest of Helen Copley, she directed
the merger of the Union and the Tribune, soon becoming executive editor
of the merged papers. She became editor in 1995.
Winner has overseen remarkable changes at the newspaper and played
an active role in redefining its relationship with the San Diego region.
She is also a Californian through and through — she grew up near
San Diego, has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of
Southern California, and is a former president of the California Society
of Newspaper Editors.
Q. As San Diego has evolved during this decade, how and why has the
Union-Tribune’s coverage changed? What are the tough issue stories you
face there today?
A. Our region’s minority population will become the majority by 2002.
That stunning statistic has caused the greatest change as we try to diversify
our pages and our staff.
With an ever-increasing influx of immigrants and the passage of NAFTA,
we’ve placed greater emphasis on trade, border traffic, drugs, binational
economic issues, the maquiladora industry and more.
The population crunch has created a new area of coverage which we call
“urban aggravation.”
The role of community is growing in significance again, so we’re providing
more community-oriented news, as well as trying to enhance our public watchdog
role. When I became editor, we introduced an ongoing series called Solutions,
which answers the reader’s craving for good news mixed in with the crime
and three-Kleenex features. Solutions concentrates on community problem-solving
and highlights individual and collective efforts to overcome those problems
or to make a difference.
Lastly, over the past three years we’ve been faced with the need for
stadium and convention center expansion, the desire for a new ballpark
and new central library, all of which has called for an increased emphasis
on public financing coverage. We’re placing more emphasis on packaging,
context, relevance and a regional mix of content on the front page.
Q. You’ve restructured the management team, haven’t you? What were
you thinking needed to be different about how the paper was managed?
A. Yes, I flattened the organization to get rid of the layers between
the staff and the editor. We went from seven layers to three in most places;
Metro has four. I wanted to empower both staff and managers more, and to
increase responsibility and accountability. I created a senior editor system
instead of having a managing editor and assistants. Each senior editor
is, in effect, a managing editor over a specific area of the paper: News,
Special Sections, Visuals, Business & Sports, and Operations. Recently
I added a senior editor for Readership.
Q. What’s the first step in managing newsroom change? Is there anything
you would advise editors to be careful about?
A. Getting staff buy-in through greater communication. The goal must
be to have everybody understand not just what we’re doing, but why we’re
doing it; involving all levels in the decision-making process and building
a relationship of trust.
On advice to editors: I’d say be careful about creating the perception
of favoritism. It sticks in my craw that people think because we tend to
assign someone who we know can do the job and do it well that we’re accused
of playing favorites. Be as collaborative as possible, always place the
readers first, don’t lose your sense of humor, no matter what happens,
and, above all, strive for a balance between your professional and personal
life.
Q. What sort of personality do you think the Union-Tribune has these
days? What gives a newspaper personality?
A. The U-T’s personality is still evolving from the merger which combined
a stately, conservative morning paper with a scrappy, more liberal afternoon
paper. In my opinion, personality and definition come from content mix,
voices, packaging, the visuals, integrated storytelling, writing style
and an editorial page that takes an aggressive leadership role.
Q. What’s the greatest leadership challenge you face now?
A. Greatest external leadership challenge: Building our credibility
with our readers.
Greatest internal leadership challenge: Instilling a sense of urgency
and earning the trust of the staff.
Q. You’ve been adding staff and recruiting new talent recently. What
are you looking for in the people you bring in? What makes someone right
for covering your communities?
A. I had a terrific time recruiting at the Unity ’99 conference in Seattle.
I really was knocked out by the extraordinary talent. My criteria in looking
for a new hire: range, a passion for the business, high ethical standards,
an eagerness to go beyond the obvious, reporters who see issues through
the eyes of the people who are affected by them, who have energy and enthusiasm
and who take pride in their work and in their newspapers.
Q. You had a union decertification election that drew quite a bit
of industry attention a year or two ago. Have things settled back down
since then or are there still some rocky relations in the newsroom? How
do you deal with the legacy of divisiveness, if any?
A. Since the union decertification a year ago, the staff has a much
greater opportunity to be a part of the decision-making process. The newsroom
is far more open and collaborative. People are actually having fun!
There are still those who feel more comfortable in the “us against them”
environment, but, happily, there are fewer and fewer of them as each week
goes by. Staff members throughout the building have participated in revamping
our performance evaluation system and in developing strategies for a current
readership initiative.
Q. What was your biggest mistake since taking over as editor?
A. When I became editor four years ago, I wasn’t assertive enough in
insisting that, despite the economic downturn in California, we maintain
a level of staffing to ensure the regional and community issues were covered
adequately. Instead, the attrition cut deeper than I would have liked.
We’re in the process of building the level back to necessary standards
now.
Q. And your best decision?
A. To create parity between the visual and the word worlds: our leadership
team includes a senior editor for visuals (graphics, photos and page design)
equal to our senior editors for news departments.
Q. Did you have a mentor (or do you still have one)?
A. I have been incredibly fortunate to have had a handful of very special
people in my life, who cared enough to guide me with great candor and insight.
In particular, Roger Tatarian who believed in me and gave me such wise
counsel; Nancy Woodhull, who taught me to have confidence in myself; J.D.
Alexander who taught me to stand up for what I believe in; Herb Klein,
who helped me to understand the dynamics and diplomacy of an editor’s role,
and most important, Helen Copley who placed her faith in me and trusted
me to do the right thing for her and for her company.
Q. As an editor, what would you like to be remembered for?
A. The high quality of the staff and content of the newspaper, a strong
sense of fairness and a passion for this business and the people in it.
Q. What’s in store for the future?
A. If I knew what was in store, I’d sell franchises.
Obviously, the onslaught of content providers, most notably the Internet,
will continue to compete. So will everyone’s most precious commodity these
days — time. Direct mail and online services will vie for a greater bite
of our advertising revenue base.
As a newspaper we will need to become far more conversant with our demographics,
so that we can retain subscribers and attract new readers with special-interest
sections delivered to specific households; we will need to emphasize “utility
of use,” relevance and context, as well as offer news stories in three
forms — just the facts, the facts with quotes from all sides of the issue,
the in-depth story with the facts, the perspective, relevance, sidebars,
update and future boxes, etc.
As a company, we will need to diversify and create other business opportunities
that utilize the depth and expertise of our news and feature content.
And, as always, our greatest challenge in the print world remains finding
ways to enhance our penetration and increase our circulation.
Parsons is executive editor of the Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press.
