Just do it.

If you have time to clear your plate of regular journalism work to also work on a blog, or get video, or cut audio, or whatever: just do it. Find a free web host for your content (like youtube) and give the link to your ‘Web guy.’ He knows what to do with it.

Don’t bother asking permission. It is easier to ask forgiveness.

I know exactly where you are coming from. If you want to see change in your organization, you have to be that change. And teach others along the way.

It’s slow and it’s painful. But organizational change always is. Trust me, I’ve been there. I’m still there. Don’t let the organization of your job keep you from doing the best job you can do. Ever. It’s simply not worth it.

Other ways to spend your time:

Encourage your sources to write blogs and link to them from your stories.
Drop the pad and paper for an audio recorder. It’s a bit of a shift for some, but what was once purely record keeping now duals as multimedia opportunity.
Get documents in PDF form where you can.
Know how your sources manage spreadsheets, and ask for that data.

Good luck!

This entry comments on Alan Mutter’s blog entry titled “Brain Drain,” and provides my perspective about how newspapers aren’t taking advantage of young, technologically savvy employees who are leaving the industry for other jobs.

The fortunate thing is unlike many of the comments on the Newsosaur and even my post, I’m not at a paper where simply copying and pasting is good enough. They are pushing for more online in various realms. I’m just not getting to be as big a part of it as I’d like. And that is what frustrates me because that’s where my interests lie.

The thing I also realize, and don’t think I made the point clearly in my post, is that I don’t blame my company or bosses. I feel I am responsible for my own destiny. The reality is, I am doing what I was hired to do. So in light of the fact that I now know I need to prove to my editor I can clear my plate and leave room for dessert (the blog, video, etc.), I’m just going to have to work harder to make that known.

I guess, what it boils down to is I’m scared of being left behind. I’m scared of all the opportunities every one else is getting and I’m not. (Though perhaps from all the comments, there are far fewer people getting these chances than I imagine, which makes it all the more imperative.)

I want to try new ideas. And if I fail, so what? I’m 22. I’m going to fail a lot in my life. And if our papers fail at a new venture? Well, what is there to lose that isn’t already being lost? As Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” I’m just not sure how to get them to let me try. From all the comments here and elsewhere, that is really the problem everyone is facing. We all want to try, but how? I’m working on that. And I don’t think we afford for any of my peers (in age or in mindset) to give up on finding a way. I know I won’t be any time soon.

The ‘web guy’ is always going to be overworked and buried in requests, until the paper hires more ‘web guys’ or the company that owns the paper makes the Web a high enough priority that it forces re-organization on the paper.

Having been the ‘web guy,’ I speak from experience.

I worked in a newsroom for almost five years and from day 1 I tried to get some better Web stuff going. In five years, the Web site improved, yes, and they launched a podcast and a few blogs.

But the podcast folded when one of the tech gurus left and nobody stepped forward to continue the podcast and they didn’t want to hire someone to continue the podcast.

Still no RSS feed. One poor guy is doing the whole Web site. When will they get a clue? Granted this was a smallish paper. I loved working there but sometimes my head met the desk from the clueless attitude when it came to technology.

Now I am at a different paper (because of a family move, not because I wanted to leave). I feel like I am at square one. Same issues. No RSS feed. No blogs. No audio for crying out loud! I wanted to do a story with audio and a slideshow and I’m told I have to wait until DECEMBER before the Web guy will add the enabling software. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is (but you can probably understand).

I have to say that this was one of those rare blog posts that made me want to give you a standing ovation. While I cant pretend to know what its like to *really* work in a newsroom as a permanent job, I have had internships where the above scenario played out exactly.

And I mean exactly. I think the problem is mostly organizational. Its hard to change when you have been doing things for X years. Its even harder when it has to go through 5 layers of managers, editors, and gog knows what else.

Get up the good work! Subscribed.