I saw this speech from the Scripps CEO to Arizona State University j-school grads on Romenesko.

Reading it made me feel even better about my chosen profession. Even though every week I read about dozens of reporters and editors being laid off, and I do worry about my own prospects, this speech only reaffirms for me that I have a chance. I am fortunate and excited to enter the profession right now. I have the right set of skills at the right time. Hopefully it will pay off for me.

What most excites me about the opportunities that lay in the years ahead for me is this: nobody is saying, “What do you know? You just graduated from college. This is how it’s always been done.” That phrase, “how it’s always been done” is quickly and necessarily being removed from our lexicon. Instead, newspapers and media companies are listening to people like me, people who might not have decades of experience but who have eyes and minds wide open to the future and are ready and willing to take risks. As I always say, I might hate something or fail at it, but anything is worth trying once.

Some choice spots from the speech:

We’ll also be looking to you to be good story-tellers.

We believe this is critical to the future of our local news franchises.

To stay relevant in today’s crowded media environment – to rise above the din – we have to tell compelling stories. We may have to jettison police blotter reporting. We may have to miss some city council meetings.

Or it may be a matter of breathing life into the mundane and providing insight and perspective.

All I know is that everyday, our readers should be afraid of what they’ll miss if they don’t pick up their local newspaper off the front lawn or log on to the Web site.

…

Immerse yourselves in the fullness of the communities in which you work and live.

Know your neighbors and know what really matters to them. It’ll make you better reporters and great storytellers.

AND finally:

When it comes to changing technology, we’ll be looking to you to be flexible. You’re probably already well aware by now that change will be the only constant in your lives.

My recommendations to you are to keep an open mind. Be early adapters. And reject complacency and the status quo.

…

We – and by we, I mean the business of media as a whole – will be depending on the risk-takers of the world to identify and seize all of the opportunities that flourish in a world of constant change.

My hope is that you’ll be those risk takers.

Some things to think about.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 21st, 2006 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Career, Commentary, Journalism, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.