newjerseynewsroom.com

Share this Twitter Myspace Digg Del.icio.us Reddit Slashdot Furl Yahoo Technorati Newsvine Facebook Export PDF Print E-mail Tags newspaper ” news journalism state reporters ledger star willse years crisis editor “the philadelphia staff keevey veteran future journalists model Article Index The Newspaper Crisis discussed at Princeton event Page # All Pages

Willse provided an insider's view of the changes at a major American newspaper. He described losing veteran reporters with whom he worked “shoulder to shoulder.” Most editors and reporters left on Dec. 31, a day Willse called one of the worst of his professional life.

“It was like a mass funeral,” he recalled.

The situation was far different when Willse joined the newspaper in 1995 with a charter to improve the newspaper's quality.

“We hired 60 new journalists. We set out to make a good newspaper. For the next 10 years we were riding high,” he said. The newspaper won two Pulitzer Prizes and dozens of major national awards.

“Then the plague came with a ferocity and speed we did not see coming,” he said.

Since the buyouts, the newspaper has hired less experienced reporters at lower salaries to cover the news along with veteran staff. He said the paper has been producing news videos and has increased local coverage.

“Our watchdog role remains as important as ever,” he said.

Speaking generally, he said newspapers in the future may publish fewer days, perhaps just Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and the product may be physically smaller.

Others at the conference talked about new journalism models, such as philanthropic news services, including ProPublica, an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism.

Keevey, the moderator, mentioned this site, NewJerseyNewsroom.com, created by 40 former Star-Ledger journalists.

“Will sites like this be the model for future news outlets?” he asked.

Another new model is MinnPost.com, in Minnesota. CEO and Editor Joel Kramer said the non-profit website continues to search for a sustaining business model. It now relies on members who support the service, much like National Public Radio, as well as fund raisers and foundation grants.

“Good journalism is expensive,” he said.

Others said journalism cannot thrive with only low-paid or un-paid journalists.

“There is no crisis in news,” said Dustan McNichol, a former reporter at The Star-Ledger who described his efforts to create a news service to cover Trenton.  “The crisis has been in trying to make journalism a sustainable career,” he said.