OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2016
News media in transition is opportunity to shine
By LAURA SELLERS
The Daily Astorian
T
here is something inherently historic
about our nation’s news editors gathering
in Philadelphia for the News Leadership
Conference presented by the Associated Press
Media Editors, American Society of News Edi-
tors and the Associated Press Photo Managers.
Amid some hand-wringing about troubled
times in the news industry, there could loudly
be heard bell ringing for freedom of informa-
tion, transparency, innovation and, most impor-
tantly, the declarations that, without journalists,
society could be lost.
Pretty stirring pronouncement, that. But here
is Eddy Cue, Apple’s head guy for internet soft-
ware and services — he led the creation of the
iTunes store, Apple Music, Siri, and now Apple
News — to back it up: “I think
as you look at the world today,
all over the world, it’s really
important that we have great,
successful, expanding news
organizations in the world,” he
said. “You guys do incredible
work that’s extremely valuable and makes soci-
ety better. Without you, it would be a disaster.”
Not that we have any time to rest and relect
on that. Time is of the essence.
In fact, Cue added, he wakes up every
day and thinks about surviving, because basi-
cally no industry is safe anymore. And he said
that “Steve Jobs taught me that in order to do
great things you have to be able to say ‘no.’”
So we must put our energy behind what’s most
important.
And further, he notes that Apple News will
never be a moneymaker, but they did it because
news is an important part of society.
Marty Baron, executive editor of the Wash-
ington Post and former editor of the Boston
Globe when it was proiled in the movie “Spot-
light,” said, “I went through my own period
of mourning, of what I thought was being lost
amid all the change. It was hard not to,” he said.
“Mourning must come to an end at some point
… The truth is that it is futile and counterpro-
ductive to resist the inevitable changes in our
profession. We can’t just adapt to this dramatic
change, we have to embrace it. Even as we do
that, we also have to remember what doesn’t
change and that is our mission.”
Shuyao Chen/Penn State University
Ralph Archbold has been impersonating Benjamin Franklin since 1973, and Philadelphia has declared him the city’s official Ben
Franklin. He was actually born on Franklin’s birthday, Jan. 17. He is seen here at the opening reception in the National Constitution
Center in Philadelphia with newsroom leaders from around North America.
Civility is the word
In this tense election year, one breath of
fresh air was the winner of APME’s Innova-
tor of the Year award, The Northwest Times of
Indiana. This smaller publication beat out two
Pulitzer Prize winners for the honor, selected in
live voting at the conference.
Their innovation? Civility Counts, which
uses this as their vision: “As we witness inci-
dents of disrespect, discourtesy, intolerance,
bullying and violence in all of our communi-
ties, we see the need to raise the conscious level
of everyone and those from every walk of life.
Whether in politics, business, education or our
personal lives, we can be better. We must be
better in order to live in a civil manner and in a
civilized society.”
The Times partnered with the Gary, Indi-
ana, chamber, schools and other groups and
led the way by refusing to publish vitriolic
speech. There was some pushback from those
who thought their ability to speak out was being
taken away.
“Eighteen months in, the feedback has com-
pletely changed,” said Summer Moore, digi-
tal and audience engagement editor. “Now all
we’re getting from the community is they’re so
exited and so happy that we’re not putting that
stuff in our paper anymore.”
Editor Bob Heisse is a former president of
APME and a personal mentor.
“This is something any of you can do in your
communities,” he said at the conference. “It’s a
concept that our community has embraced.”
Now, our area is fairly civil on the surface,
but dip into the comments section on our web-
site or try to hold a political discussion about
the presidency or race or immigration and
watch the fur ly.
So, maybe this is an idea rearing its head just
in the nick of time.
Joining forces
One trend in the industry is combining
resources with former competitors to serve the
greater good.
Witness the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and
the Tampa Bay Times joining forces in a series
about the many dangers in Florida’s mental
health institutions and winning a Pulitzer Prize
and an APME sweepstakes award for Public
Service for Insane. Invisible. In danger.
Incoming APME President Bill Church said
when asked by a student journalist at the con-
ference if his newspaper and the Times could
have collaborated in that way 50 years ago,
Shuyao Chen/Penn State University
Associated Press Media Editors President Laura Sellers welcomes newsroom leaders
to the 2016 conference in Philadelphia with American Society of News Editors Presi-
dent Pam Fine looking on. The reception was held in the National Constitution Center.
Kellen Hazelip/Ball State University
Kathleen Carroll delivers the opening
keynote speech at the #newsleaders2016
conference in Philadelphia.
Kellen Hazelip/Ball State University
Incoming Associated Press Media Editors President Bill Church, center, sits among
other attendees at the #newsleaders2016 conference in Philly.
“No. That’s the short answer. There’s a signif-
icant amount of incentives right now because
everyone is always looking for an opportu-
nity to continue to do what’s important for our
audiences.”
Another example would be the sense it
made for three journalism leadership groups to
come together into one conference for the third
consecutive year. Alone, not one of our groups
could attract enough attendees to lure Cue and
Baron to our midst. And, we were able to learn
in the hours after the sessions from our coun-
terparts in other areas of the newsroom and
business.
That’s a win.
Locally, here is one more example of the
power of working together.
A couple of years ago, The Daily Astorian’s
parent company, EO Media Group, got together
with the Pamplin Media Group and launched
our Capital Bureau, using shared resources and
reporters dedicated to statehouse coverage to
tackle the void that existed in solid statewide
news.
It’s paid off.
Those reporters consistently break news on
all fronts, including much during the Kitzhaber/
Hayes governor scandals last year.
In an era when newspaper media is shrink-
ing, we found a way to grow.
End of an era
I am the outgoing president of the Associ-
ated Press Media Editors, and our close collab-
oration and communication with AP is one of
reasons for our existence.
For 14 years, Kathleen Carroll has been the
top news leader at the Associated Press. She’s
signing off at the end of the year.
When we think about transformation and
innovation in our industry, there are few who
overlook the changes she has wrought.
She was the opening speaker at our confer-
ence and provided some historical context.
From our student journalist: In 1864, they
could send news from Europe to North Amer-
ica by telegraph at a rate of eight words per
minute, she said.
“Unthinkable speed. Eight. Words. A. Min-
ute,” she said, with long pauses in between.
During her tenure, she helped establish
bureaus in North Korea, Myanmar and Saudi
Arabia, and she led the AP’s transformation
from a newspaper-focused agency to one that
produces multimedia on all channels.
Under Carroll’s watch, the AP won ive
Pulitzers, including one this year for public ser-
vice, six George Polk Awards and 15 Overseas
Press Club Awards.
She has been an inspiration and mentor
to many, including me. I asked some of our
board members to describe Kathleen. Here is a
sampling.
Moore of the Northwest Times said of Car-
roll: “A ierce defender of journalism and the
AP. From ielding foreign dictators to the DOD,
Kathleen never wavered from her mission to do
right by our industry. She led the largest news
agency in the world and somehow managed to
instill incredible pride in every person.”
We should all aspire to do just that.
Laura Sellers is The Daily Astorian’s man-
aging editor and a longtime member of the
Associated Press Media Editors board of direc-
tors and its 2016 president.
‘As we witness incidents of disrespect, discourtesy, intolerance, bullying
and violence in all of our communities, we see the need to raise the conscious
level of everyone and those from every walk of life. Whether in politics, business,
education or our personal lives, we can be better. We must be better in order
to live in a civil manner and in a civilized society.’
vision of APME’s Innovator of the Year award winner, The Northwest Times of Indiana
DAVID F. PERO, Editor & Publisher
• LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
• CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
• DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
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