ASNE - Newspaper of the future: Integrating print, television and Web

If you're looking for a preview of the newspaper of the future, you might want to drop by The Orlando Sentinel. A number of editors already have.

"We have a regular procession of newspaper editors - from this country and abroad - through here to see what we're doing," Sentinel Editor John Haile says. "Lately, international journalists have been especially interested."

What the visitors are seeing is a total commitment to convergence - the bringing together of the newspaper with television and the Web. Here are some examples:

New ways of looking at things are no surprise at Tribune. For the second consecutive year, Tribune recently was ranked No. 1 among its peers in the "publishing and printing" category in Fortune's Most Admired Companies listing. Tribune especially outdistanced its peers in the categories of "innovativeness" and "investment value."

Experimentation began in Orlando in 1992 when the Sentinel became one of the first newspapers on the Internet through an arrangement with America Online. Today, Tribune Co. is a significant investor in AOL.

The Sentinel took another step in 1996 with an interactive TV test with Time Warner that "forced us to recognize that eventually everything would have to be in a digital format," Haile says. "We had only about 4,000 subscribers in the test, so we got to practice without a lot of risk."

That same year the Sentinel entered a news-sharing relationship with Channel 9, Orlando's top-rated network-affiliated news channel. "It went south fast," Haile says. "Our needs and priorities and theirs did not mesh."

Through it all, the newspaper's management and staff were learning about new media and experimentation. That meant that in 1997 when the Sentinel and Time Warner went on the air with Channel 13, Central Florida News, they were ready.

The symbols of the Sentinel's commitment to convergence are obvious across the newsroom. Most visible is the Multimedia Desk, or "bridge," the Star Trek-like command post that dominates the view. Raised about six inches above the newsroom floor, the 25-foot by 15-foot structure serves as command central, where six to eight editors operate at any one time. Typically found there are the deputy managing editor/multimedia, the deputy managing editor/local news, the online editor, the photo assignment editor, the graphics editor and the day or night assignment editor.

The 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. news meetings take place on the bridge, with anyone welcome to join in. Local reporters' desks are arranged right outside the area where the deputy managing editor/local news sits.

The bridge serves as a hub of activity in the Sentinel newsroom and as a symbol of the organization's commitment to multimedia. "I was a bit skeptical when Haile told me about the plan for a desk in the middle of the newsroom," says Mike Bales, general manager of OrlandoSentinel Interactive. "Most decisions seem to be so highly decentralized in newsrooms that they don't need to be coordinated at a high-profile desk. But it has worked wonders. It has improved communication. And it's important symbolically. It communicates to staff that this stuff is important and it's here to stay."

At the bridge, editors exchange information and make assignments, and the deputy managing editor/multimedia coordinates coverage and story flow with Channel 13. That coordination goes beyond merely planning the story budget. As an example, television production manager Tom Barnes describes a situation where Channel 13 alerted the Sentinel about an arrest in a local murder. "A lot happens in the other direction, too. We tend to pass more information from the Sentinel to Channel 13. But almost all of it goes through this channel," he says, pointing to the bridge.

Barnes, who works closely with Deputy Managing Editor/Multimedia Keith Wheeler, says a big part of his job is to "maintain the synergy between the newsrooms. People now are used to cameras in the newsroom - we've been doing that long enough that people accept that this is the way we do things. And many embrace it by bringing story ideas to us."

In fact, many Sentinel reporters enjoy the new opportunities television brings. One of the supporters is political editor Mike Griffin, who says: "My job is to tell the news. I'm a journalist first. It would be almost irresponsible if I didn't tell a story because of the medium. Anybody who considers himself a journalist has to be eager to get in various media. I feel like we reach and affect so many more people now with the Channel 13 arrangement."

Kevin Spear, a Sentinel reporter for 10 years, is considered the paper's most skillful television journalist. Shari Buford, executive producer at Channel 13 and a former Sentinel producer, says: "Kevin and others who are really good on television give Channel 13 reports a lot more depth, because they're such solid journalists and they've been here a long time and know how the area works."

Spear says he likes working in both print and video. "I deeply believe in this coming together of newspapers and television," he says. "I really enjoy TV as a powerful story-telling tool. I'm motivated primarily by having fun with TV. But I also believe it won't be too long until you can't tell the difference between print, TV and online. So it's a good idea to keep your eye on each one right now."

Photographers also are involved, carrying still and video cameras. Senior photographer Red Huber says: "My priorities continue to be to shoot stills. But if I also capture something on video, I've still done my job, I've still touched readers or viewers with that moment. To me, using a video camera has broadened my perspective."

Lessons learned, mistakes made

Why did the paper make these kinds of changes?

In the early 1990s, Tribune Co. CEO Charlie Brumback committed the company to multimedia. "I was on an ASNE new media panel in Dallas four years ago, and I remember answering the question of 'why do this?' with two words: 'classified advertising,'" Sentinel Editor John Haile says. "That is our largest single source of advertising, and it is the most vulnerable to interactive, searchable media. If ad dollars start dropping, you can bet newsroom budgets will follow. That will dramatically affect our ability to do good journalism."

Haile says that as the Sentinel got into new media, it became clear that media will converge - with print, video and interactivity coming together to create a new form of communication.

What and how many resources were required to take this route?

Haile hired seven television journalists, including a deputy managing editor/multimedia, to work in the Sentinel newsroom. He also equipped all of his photographers with video cameras. Most of the staff underwent extensive training in on-air presentation. One camera and an editing suite were placed in the newsroom. Several computer editing stations that receive television were purchased.

The most dramatic change was the reconfiguration of the newsroom around a futuristic Multimedia Desk.

What results does the paper have to show for the changes?

Market research shows that the Sentinel reached about 20 percent more people in the Orlando area with its brand in 1998 than in the previous year.

What lessons did the editor/newspaper learn in the process?|

It is very important to make clear to the staff that every day will be a learning experience. Don't pretend that it will be smooth and easy. "But, when things don't go quite right, it doesn't mean the project has failed," Haile says. "It just means we won't do it that way again."

The Sentinel also has used the opportunity to reinforce its fundamental journalistic values. Haile and Managing Editor Jane Healy have conducted regular "news values" discussions with small groups, taking a day for an out-of-office activity and setting aside time for open discussions of what good journalism is all about.

Other keys to success:

Training, and lots of it, so that reporters and photographers are comfortable with whatever they're asked to do.

Heavy staff involvement from the beginning. The Sentinel set up a half- dozen staff-led project teams to work on content, work flow, technology needs and training.

What mistakes did the editor/newspaper make in the process?

The newsroom's online/Internet focus slipped a little when the TV project was launched. "It was easier for everyone to see what was being done for TV, with the result that it got more attention."

TV viewers expected reporters to look professional in appearance and presentation. The Sentinel responded by stepping up training.

In the Sentinel's first news sharing relationship with a TV network affiliate, the newspaper learned that its ideas about news conflicted with the station's ratings-driven needs. The relationship collapsed.

"The biggest issue even now is making sure we decide at the beginning of every story whether it will be for the Internet and TV, as well as the newspaper, and to plan accordingly," Haile says.

What is the bottom line?

"Tribune Co. has been on the cutting edge of developing new media, but we've got miles to go," Haile says. "New competitors are coming at us every day. We have to take our journalism to where people are. We've got resources that no local competitor can match, but we have to use them or risk losing them."

- John Haile and James K. Gentry

Not surprisingly, not everyone at the Sentinel has embraced convergence. "We've had some people leave," Haile says. "They said this wasn't for them. Their decision was good for both of us."

Given the potentially incendiary nature of the bringing together of print and television journalists, how did the Sentinel do it?

"We made it clear from the start that it was vitally important for us to reach more people," Haile says. "We made it clear that this wasn't a lark - that we had to try to figure out how to change the business, because if we didn't we weren't going to have the resources to finance this operation. If we don't keep finding new audiences, and start losing revenues, then this news organization is going to get crunched."

To start with, Sentinel managers looked at how people get their news today, how that was changing, how the Sentinel's share of advertising dollars in the market was changing and what that could mean for the long term. Haile says he also helped staffers "see things that might be limiting their thinking."

Management and staff cooperation was impressive, he says. "My newsroom has been fantastic about this. The leaders in the newsroom got out in front and said this is vitally important in reaching more people and that we should take advantage of the opportunities to experiment. They jumped in. Senior reporters and editors got out front. Others saw this as the thing to do, too."

Haile also involved the staff in the change. Before the venture with Channel 13, the newspaper formed six committees of staff members to look at content issues (two groups), to assess the impact on staff, to examine technology issues, to look at process and work flow issues, and to be involved with training.

"We had close to 100 staff members involved," says Managing Editor Jane Healy. "The involvement allowed us to get buy-in by most of the staff. They had enormous input into how we would do things."

"We told everyone we wanted to change the company," Haile says. "We actually didn't know how. We said, 'You guys (managers and staff) work on the how.' They generated some great ideas, so the staff now has tremendous ownership in what you see here."

Healy says the initial Time Warner experiment and the brief Channel 9 partnership played a vital role in easing the transition to the current relationship with Channel 13. "It got people used to being on TV and past a big hurdle," she says. "When we started the Channel 13 partnership, many people already were past the cultural adjustment."

Staff members voiced three main concerns about the Channel 13 relationship, Healy and Haile say. "First, they were afraid we'd have to go with a story too soon," Healy says. "We said we would keep the same standards we'd always had. We wouldn't go with a half-baked idea."

Adds Haile: "There are plenty of examples of high profile stories going out too soon, but there are also high-profile examples of stories going out later and not being ready."

Staff members also were concerned that the newspaper's values would change. "We said they wouldn't," Healy says. "We said we want to put our values on TV. I haven't seen any evidence that our values have changed."

And third, Haile says: "They were concerned there would be too much work." And, in truth, this question is still being sorted out, although without any apparent animosity.

At the heart of the changes, however, was Haile's emphasis on values. He says: "We had to emphasize basic journalistic values. We made a point to emphasize that there were fundamental values that will define us, no matter what medium we are in. These values set us apart from the competition. They are our competitive advantage.

"We've had an ongoing series of discussions about fundamental news values. When we got involved with other media, we didn't want to be dumbing down what we do. We wanted good journalism to carry across other channels."

Reporters interviewed for this story could think of no instances where they felt the paper's news values had been compromised by the partnership with Channel 13.

As convergence has become more ingrained in the newsroom, so has the expectation that everyone must participate. In the beginning reporters were allowed to choose whether they wanted to do TV. Now, "everybody we interview for a job has to be comfortable with the idea of being on television," Healy says. "The standards have slowly evolved to where we just expect it of everyone now."

Staff members can find themselves doing several kinds of work for Channel 13. Some staffers regularly contribute to the 10 to 12 "franchise," or regular, pieces that go on Channel 13 each week.
Other staff members, with particularly high-visibility beats, often find themselves interviewed by Channel 13 for "talkback" features that provide depth and background to news events. And still others might take a soft news piece and develop it into a television story as well.

And television doesn't stop with Channel 13. The sports department has developed "The Orlando Sentinel High School Sports Show" in association with Ross Productions of Philadelphia. The Sentinel buys air time on the NBC affiliate, which runs the show at 11:30 a.m. Saturdays.

"This is a huge sports area," says Donna Eyring, who recently moved from deputy managing editor/sports to deputy managing editor/weekends. "The show hasn't been a huge burden on the staff. And we control the content."

The show features the top two games of the week, which it covers with a staff member. It also runs features on four athletes of the week and covers other games with stringers.

One of the most interesting things about the Orlando commitment is that, if anything, Sentinel editors and staff would like to see even more of their work on Channel 13. One editor mentioned disappointment that Channel 13 had not stationed a person on the bridge, which had been part of the early thinking as a way to encourage more cooperation.

Overall, however, most people at the Sentinel seem to share Haile's assessment. "I'm amazed at how far we've come so fast," he says.

The change reflects Haile's thinking about the future of newspapers. "We spend too much time worrying about how this new world will affect how we do journalism," he says. "We've got to have confidence we can practice good journalism across multiple media. We can't get tied in knots about things."