News-Record.com

Doug Fisher, the University of South Carolina journalism professor who enlivened several discussion sessions at ConvergeSouth this past weekend, has posted his thoughts on the event:

What ensued was a robust discussion about why the News & Record, arguably one of the new-media leaders in the country, especially in opening its online site to the community, still does not have comments on stories. Editorial page editor Allen Johnson noted that comments are on letters to the editor and launched into a litany of the problems the newspaper has with even that, let alone expanding it (a list I suspect could be duplicated at most any paper in the country):

* Not enough time or bodies to moderate them all. Some letters to the editor get 100 or more responses. There's no way to deal with that kind of volume on stories.
* The newspaper's software, a proprietary system, does not have the tools to do it. (For instance, even the inability to have a "report inappropriate content" button.) Lex Alexander of the N&R noted that it takes six to seven years "between the time we dip our toe in the water and tools become available."
* Reporters are talking about it in the newsroom but it "seizes us up" (that last from Joe Killian, one of the N&R's more tech-savvy reporters). There's the time to respond, etc.

The response from those there, who represented a large swath of the blogging community in Greensboro: Let us help you. We'll help police the site and turn in the trolls and flamers, if you let us. We'll help you try to work around your software, if you'll let us (after all, the software brain trust in Greensboro is pretty deep). We think you are important -- so important that we'd like to be involved in how one of the main information organs in our community grows and adapts. We don't particularly want you to die, but if you don't listen to us, we'll move on.

First Observation: If you listen really closely, you'll hear a lot of that. Newspapers have a wonderful opportunity. Their communities realize the challenges they face. They want to help. But this is a limited-time offer. We're squandering it by treating readers as some kind of product to be "captured" and even, it seems in some cases, almost as the enemy, ready to jump ship. If we can get over the psychological barriers and learn to work with our audience as partners, the possibilities are tremendous.

Second Observation: What we heard from Robinson and Johnson reinforces the notion that newspapers remain mired in their legacy as manufacturing operations in a world where news is now a service, not a product. Heck, it's reflected in the language we use. Even at ConvergeSouth, we were talking about newsPAPERS instead of talking about newsROOMS. Mere semantic difference? No, a critical orientation. (Emphasis in original)

I heard the same thing Doug did on Saturday, and the first thing I need to say is: We hear you. We hear you, Doug, and we hear you, Citizen Will and others who spoke Saturday of strengthening the bonds between the N&R and the community.
We understand the value of what we are being offered, we understand that the offer is for a limited time only, and we're going to take you up on it.

I spoke today about how to do so with John Robinson, with News & Record Interactive head Kathy Lambeth, and with a number of other key people who work for one or the other.

Long story short, in January we plan to hold a meeting here at the paper of key N&R news and technology staffers and anyone in the community interested in working with us to address some of these specific technological problems.

We'd do it sooner, but because we want this meeting to lead directly to action, we're first getting our ducks in a row for 2007 budgetwise (departmental budget hearings are going on as I type) and in terms of technological problems and priorities.

At the meeting, we'll go down that list item by item and see whether anyone in the community has the ability and willingness to help us tackle each one. Responsibilities will be assigned, target dates set for completion, and then the meeting will break up and we'll get to work.

We haven't set a firm date for the meeting yet, but in the meantime, if you think you might be interested in coming, please e-mail me. In addition, if you have specific suggestions for technological improvements to the site, please include them, and I'll see that they get to the people who are preparing our priority list for such improvements. (I've begun my own list, based in significant part on some things suggested at ConvergeSouth.)

Obviously, this is not a huge concession on our part, and I don't want to make it sound that way. It's just the opposite, in fact: We'd be nuts not to accept your offer of help. In an e-mail to me earlier today, JR acknowledged that we "stalled" this year in developing the site, emphasized that we must regain momentum in '07, and said this approach fits well with the plans of both the News and the Interactive departments to do so.

I look forward to it.