An Open Letter That Must Be Posted in Every Newsroom Around the World

This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. The next blog post is Monday, Sept. 26

TAKEAWAY: What this anonymous writer has written in his letter to a certain Dear Legacy Print Editor encapsulates what the real dialog should be in many newsrooms.

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This is must reading for anyone in our business.

I often discuss the impact and the necessity of change for everyone today—-regardless of your business and/or occupation.

Change affects how we think, the way we work, and the effectiveness with which we deal with others, both our superiors and all other colleagues.

That is why I am so impressed with this letter to a Dear Legacy Print Editor, with emphasis on the words legacy and print. The letter is written by someone who got obviously bruised by his contact with editors of another era who simply refused to accept the way things move today.

His letter summarizes all that I would like to say to anyone who still believes that the way we have practiced traditional/classic journalism still applies today in a multi platform media world.

I am well aware that not all traditional print journalists have an aversion to change; in fact, many of the ones I come in contact with have a great desire for experimentation and change. But many are still not there, and it is usually a combination of ignorance and fear that keeps them off track. In fact, the irony is that some of these editors would make great multi media storytellers if they put their mind to it.

I like very much that the writer of this letter begins by telling the traditional print editor:

I have respect for you.

That is the foundation on which any change can be accomplished. Here is how the writer put it:

I have respect for you, but you have none for me and the rest of the evolved journalists working with me to create the news organization of tomorrow who, by the way, range in age from 19 to 75 and beyond and who are placing our bets on adaptation and a future landscape that looks very different from our storied past.

But the respect has to be mutual. It is saying something like:

I respect you for your professional trajectory and experience, but I expect that you will respect me for what I can bring to the table at a time we need to combine the best of traditional journalistic practices with the demands of a new, very different media environment, with demanding audiences who are less patient, but who still want the best that storytelling can offer.

Much is said today about the important nexus of storytelling and technology. More needs to be said about the junction of those excellent traditional practitioners of journalism and the new breed who are constantly reminding us about the necessity to find new ways of moving forward.

The two are totally compatible.

In fact, it is the combination of the traditional and the new that begins to make such iconic places as The New York Times and even The New Yorker savor some degree of success with audiences across generations.

The first step, however, is a desire of the traditional print editor to be open to change, to engage in dialog with those who understand and respect the traditions, but who are aware of importing those traditions into the new multi platform world. The second is for those who represent new ways of storytelling to show respect for their more traditional colleagues and work in a harmonious, effective manner. Better yet, the new breed needs to engage those traditional editors in the new and exciting multi media projects that they may be creating. When this happens, everyone wins.