Get Your 'MoJos' Working: The End of the Newsroom
As We Know It?
NEW YORK
When word came down on March 12 that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was
going to resign after revelations that he'd paid more than $80,000 for
sex, Jeff Blackwell of the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle grabbed
his video camera and headed to a nearby diner. As the lunchtime crowd
at Jim's Restaurant watched the governor's resignation live on television,
Blackwell recorded their reactions and later posted them online, using
additional comments for Web and print stories.
"The picture and the sound show the expressions on their
faces, the tone in their voices," Blackwell says. "You could tell if
they agreed with what he was doing or not."
Such
an assignment is typical for Blackwell and other "backpack" or "mobile"
journalists, who spend most if not all of their time outside the newsroom
recording, shooting, and writing stories without ever sitting at a desk.
"It is probably 60% of my time that is spent out; there are days I don't
come into the office at all at least once or twice a week," says Blackwell,
44. He had worked at the D&C for more than a decade when editors approached
him two years ago with the idea of outfitting his 2002 dark blue Audi
with a laptop, video camera, audio recorder, still camera, and plenty
of lenses.
When a snowstorm struck this past February, Blackwell
left home at 8 a.m. and went directly to find people to comment on what
they liked about the wintry weather. "I just drove around until I found
something to shoot," he says, noting that the images he captured were
transmitted directly from his laptop.
Blackwell's beat is becoming more and more common as a
growing number of newspapers employ these mobile journalists, known
as "mojos" in many places. As technology offers easier ways to collect
sound and images, editors are finding that equipping reporters with
the necessary gadgets to work remotely and kicking them out the door
to do it is an attractive option. One daily even plans to make all
of its reporters and photographers "mobile" this year.
"We
are trying to equip more folks with media kits so that everything we
could conceivably want, journalistically, can be gathered in the same
setting," says Peter Bhatia, executive editor of The Oregonian in Portland
which currently has six mojo kits. "There will be more of that. Some
people really take to it."
It simply means that "people are out and about looking
for news and covering news, and in a position to file to the Web," says
Pam Fine, managing editor of The Indianapolis Star, which has about
a dozen mobile reporters. "Most newspapers have the equipment for journalists
to report from the scene, but it is a matter of degree."
At the Times Union in Albany, N.Y., Editor Rex Smith is
slowly replacing his newsroom's desktop computers with laptops to allow
for quick getaways when reporters need to chase a story. "We made a
policy decision to do that in 2007," he says.
Some even predict the "mojo" concept could lead to editors
and some non-journalistic staffers working outside the office. With
most editing, ad placement, layout, and design done on computers anyway,
it's conceivable that the newsroom as it exists today could be eliminated,
with folks working from home, their car, or even the local Starbucks.
"It is easy to imagine a day when that will happen," says Keith Woods,
dean of faculty at The Poynter Institute. "We are technologically in
a place where we can already do that."
But not every editor is so keen on the idea. Some, like
Tim Franklin of The Sun in Baltimore, worry that journalists can lose
that exchange of ideas and editorial oversight if they are not in the
newsroom enough. "Being in an office where you can collaborate with
others can be very beneficial," he says, adding he has no such "mojos"
on staff. "Having a place to meet with someone there is something to
be said for that."
Similarly, Editor Anders Gyllenhaal of The Miami Herald
says the mojo approach "is not the focus for us."
Still,
as demands for more Web content and faster print deadlines grow, technology
to work outside the office improves, and cost limits require newspapers
to scale back space in many places, it is clear journalists will have
to be able to do more remotely. "Obviously, there is going to be more
of that," declares Gary Pruitt, CEO of the 30-paper McClatchy chain.
"In general, it is thinking best what is the best way to cover a story."
Cutting the 'cord' If anyone has paved the road for mobile
journalists, it is clearly The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla. The 73,097-circulation
Gannett daily plans to have all 44 news staffers outfitted with mobile
packs containing laptops, digital cameras, audio recorders, and assorted
cables by the end of the spring, according to Editor Kate Marymont.
She started the mojo effort several years ago, citing a need to get
reporters out, have them spend more time in the community, and have
the ability to file stories and images more quickly.
"Everyone still has a desk, either here or from a bureau,
as an umbilical cord," she notes. "But at least 80% of reporters are
just on laptops. It really spiked in 2007." Marymont says part of the
mobile push was related to increasing online reporting and reducing
newshole, which she says has decreased by about 5% in recent years.
"The volume of online material escalated very rapidly," she adds.
While reporters on traditional beats still file for print,
their coverage of meetings and other events is more immediate, in many
cases providing updates and blog-type reporting from the scene. "It
is almost radio-style updating," Marymont says, citing a local council
meeting as an example. "We do just about everything that way."
Laura Ruane, who has been at the News-Press off and on
since 1979 and covers tourism, works more out of her 2004 Hyundai Sonata
than at any desk. She says the mobile technology allows her to cover
and file from anywhere, and much faster. She cites a recent meeting
of the local tourism board that was choosing an executive director.
As the board interviewed candidates at a special meeting, Ruane was
able to take each candidate's photo and file Web updates from the meeting
room about how they were being questioned.
During high tourism periods, she will go out once a week
to a tourist destination, "talk to people, and do a blog about it from
there," says Ruane, who has also gotten familiar with the best Wi-Fi
spots from which to work the laptop. "Panera Bread is one of my favorites,"
she says of the soup-and-sandwiches chain of eateries. She also points
to nearby Southern Florida International Airport, which has free Wi-Fi
throughout its terminals: "A day at the airport, and I can do anything
I can do in the office."
Along with traditional beat reporters utilizing the mojo
packs, Marymont has assigned several scribes to be "community journalists"
who cruise certain areas and file stories of interest. "They are out
prowling," she says. "They are responsible for capturing the life of
the community that day. Strictly digital."
One such roving reporter is Mark Krzos, a 36-year-old
former entertainment writer who joined the mojo ranks two years ago.
"I sort of roam around," he says, noting he focuses on issues ranging
from new development to crime and accidents. "I'm there sometimes even
before the cops are. It is a little bit of everything." During one week
in early March, Krzos' work ranged from coverage of a local gated community's
trivia night to a motorcycle accident, which included a photo shot and
transmitted just steps from the banged-up vehicle. "At first, I thought
it was some kind of newspaper fad," he recalls. "But I never looked
back, and would never trade it for anything else."
Heading where the energy is
While the News-Press appears to be the pioneer in mobile
journalism, it is far from alone. Newspapers from Oregon to New York
have signed on, some with only a handful of reporter "backpacks" in
use.
"I go out to find things on my own because I like to do
it," says Amy Bartner, an Indianapolis Star reporter in the paper's
Greenwood bureau, who spends most of her time scouting in her 2007 Toyota
Scion. Bartner, who joined the paper in 2006 and has worked the mojo
route for six months, also works a police beat. But she files up to
five videos per week on various subjects. "I go into a Starbucks and
transmit, or from a student union," she adds. "Anywhere I can find a
quiet place to sit."
Another rookie on the backpack beat is Monica Guzman of
the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, whose on-location work is used mostly
for the paper's "The Big Blog," a top Web site feature with different
scribes posting items on stories of the day. Armed with her Dell laptop,
Guzman, 25, blogs at locations ranging from the trendy Moe Bar to the
Seattle Seahawks' Qwest Field.
On Oscar night this year, she was camped out in a 28th-floor
room of the local Radisson where a viewing party was being held. "It
made a difference; there is something about being there," she says of
the ability to get immediate reaction to such an event. "You can really
say what got the crowd going and ask people what they think, then get
it up." A weekly guest on the local KOMO-TV Wednesday afternoon news
cast, Guzman has even taken to telling readers where she will be blogging,
drawing some occasional recognition at each spot. "It is about going
to see the story of the conver-sation," she says. "You talk to people
and you feel the energy."
At The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., Brian Howard
is the only mobile journalist in the paper's 12-person Mt. Kisco bureau.
"The idea is to get local news on the Web immediately, to get out in
the community and get stories you wouldn't otherwise get," he says.
"I have filed plenty from my laptop, in my car."
Howard says coverage includes the usual car accidents
and other breaking news. But there is also the lighter side, such as
the eight-foot wooden Paul Bunyan figure he wrote about after spotting
it on a local resident's front lawn. "I was just driving by and it turned
into a good story," he recalls.
"There is a fair amount of ribbon-cutting and stuff that
would not get into the paper," he adds. "But it keeps me busy. I have
had days with five or six stories."
For Joe Rose of The Oregonian in Portland, backpack reporting
often means literally carrying the gear on his back. An avid cyclist,
Rose regularly rides his bike to work and often slings a special bag
carrying his Macbook, digital cameras, and iPhone on his back while
covering his beat which often includes local protests and what he
calls "alternative fringe" stories.
"There have been a couple of times when I have had to
stop and take pictures on my way to or from work," says Rose, 38, who
uses a company Jeep Cherokee for other assignments. "I have been on
my bike and I get to a protest and file from there, and within minutes
I have stuff up on the site." His iPhone also comes in handy for quick
mapping details. "We are the first line of information for any breaking
news in the northwest," he says of the paper's multimedia journalists.
Then there's Peyton Whitely, the grand-father of mobile
journalism. The Seattle Times reporter has been doing the out-and-about
thing since 1988. Whitely, 63, says his first mobile phone weighed more
than 12 pounds and his initial computer was a Radio Shack model that
he converted to power through his car's lighter socket. Today, as a
crime and suburban reporter, he has a laptop and two cell phones for
use in his car.
His mode of transportation also has changed. Gone is the
1977 Datsun 280-Z he started with; now, he pursues news in a 2003 Subaru
wagon.
"I have written stories on railroad tracks and in coffee
shops, libraries, and park benches," he says. "I got into it writing
about transportation in the past, and actually had an assignment to
write about traffic in Seattle. That made me think about working from
the car all the time." One of his recent mobile stories was his part
in the massive December 2006 storm and subsequent massive power outage
that crippled the city. "I wrote the whole thing in my car in a flooded
parking lot about 200 feet from an apartment building with 50 flooded
apartments," he recalls.
Potential drawbacks
But the practice is not drawing all raves and success.
And the cost can be somewhat daunting. A "backpack" kit with video camera,
audio recorder, laptop, cell phone, and other gadgets runs about $14,800
each for the Democrat & Chronicle (see p. 26), according to Editor Karen
Magnuson. She notes, "There are a lot of pieces that go into those packs."
Others admit concerns about having so many journalists
working outside the newsroom and thus limiting face-to-face discussions
with editors and, at times, each other. "It is a lot of freedom, but
it is kind of scary," says Bartner of the Indianapolis Star. "I don't
have the ability yet where I don't need an editor above me. I sometimes
wish I had someone over my shoulder more." Guzman at the Seattle Times
agrees: "Some times, I feel like I need an editor to look at this."
Editor Marymont in Fort Myers recalls that the paper became
a bit overwhelmed in the beginning when too many mobile journalists
were posting online at once. "That is a lesson we had to learn the hard
way," she says. "We first had everyone file directly to the Web, and
we went through a phase of disorganized presentation of information."
Other editors, including Leonard Downie Jr. of The Washington
Post, say more of their reporters have gone mobile, even if they aren't
loaded up with kits. But they warn such an idea could go too far, diminishing
the pluses of the newsroom atmosphere. "There are times when fads sweep
the newspaper industry," says Downie, whose career spans some 40 years.
"We've always been wary here of changing all in one direction, along
new organizational lines."
Some also offer caution to the idea of making editors
and other non-journalists more mobile, which could be an evolution of
the approach. "One set of crystal balls may say the more you can do
from a laptop, the less you need to get together," says managing editor
Fine in Indianapolis. "But communication can get missed and muddled."
Adds Stephen Gray, managing director of the American Press
Institute's Newspaper Next Project: "I offer a caution on this. There
is no advantage to doing more than most consumers want."
By
Joe Strupp www.editorandpublisher.com
HOME
HOME
Headlines
Suspect
in fatal crash found in TV vehicle
NBC11
Reporter Robbed While Covering Story On Smash-And-Grabs
LA
TV news stringers to become TruTV series
Wilmington
to be digital TV test market
Barrington
To Slash Staff
WNBC
Plans 24-Hour News Channel
ABC
News to launch on-campus bureaus
Some
Pappas Telecasting Stations file for Chapter 11
Deputies
use Taser on sportscaster in jai
l
Jane
Fonda Slips C-Word Past NBC Today Censors
CBS
Lays Off CSTV Staffers
Man
charged in snowmobile crash that killed TV anchor
Former
Tampa Reporter busted for Child Porn
Former
Boise TV anchor arrested for domestic abuse
Former
Meteorologist Wants Jail Sentence Tossed
Davenport
TV station lays off 12, cancels 2 newscasts
Can
Columbus' famously combustible news director be tamed?
GM
apologizes for weatherman's goof
L.A.
mayor's girlfriend demoted by TV station
FCC
urges fine for Comcast
BBC
to integrate news operation
NFL's
new vest policy is out of line
Another
news chopper incident
Ex-forecaster
insists she's not guilty of shoplifting
'Early
Show' bails on flooded studio
Pit
bulls attack TV, radio station workers
Police
review actions of TV crew at office protest
Voice-over
actor tapped as traffic reporter
Family
files civil suit against anchor
Eyewitness
News back on after fire
Broken
Pipe Cripples TV News
Philly
shooter slugged
Photog
arrested
Camerawoman
files claim against Los Angeles
Global
TV cameraman saves toddler
Pittsburgh
station sorry for misplaced news tease
Hopefuls
jam station's traffic-reporter tryout
News
anchor jailed, charged with felony
Man
accused of threatening TV reporter
Another
TV News Copter Goes Down
TV
Station Fires Worker Over Porn Prank
TV
Reporter Found Guilty Of Contempt
TV
Helicopter Pilot Saves Stranded Deer
*Watch
video
Pols
Call For Warning Labels on Analog-Only TV Sets
No
charges in arrest of 'Car Czar' reporter
Former
Channel 7 analyst arrested on child sex charges
Philly
station launches mostly unscripted newscast
Boston
TV's Ansin defends mass firings
Charity's
director sues WFLA-TV reporter
Boston
radio giant fires entire news team
Roanoke
TV station fires meteorologist over MySpace photo
'Borat' duped TV producer
Former TV Reporter Indicted For Cruise Ship Conduct With Boys
KTMD
losing most of news staff
Broadcast
Workers Oppose Dereg
TV
Takes a Page Out of Newspaper Hardships
Students
make 'Point' on TV news
Fox
journalists released in Gaza Strip, ending nearly two week hostage ordeal
Cincy
TV stations settle sideline-camera flap
Death
stuns, angers reporter's family
Bossier
City businessman accused of attacking TV crew
Wife
of kidnapped Fox cameraman makes tearful plea for release
Ex-news
anchor arrest
Popular Weatherman
Passes
Former
TV personality charged with soliciting a child
Voice
of the Razorbacks Dies in Car Accident
Sentence
in crash that kills photog
Cameraman
tossed from tour
TV
station editor beaten up over report about broken privatisation promises
Chopper
4 crashes during search
Once again a near death incident. Glad everyone's safe...but
here's another reason why I've given up helicopters for good.
Cameraman
Claims He Slept With Princess Diana
Now that's what I'm talkin' about. You go get 'em
cameraman!
Broadcasters'
audience size sets new low
The least-watched week in history. Going downnnnn....
Bank
robbery foiled by TV reporter
Fox,
AP Settle Photog Flap
"Miraculous
Recovery" for CBS' Dozier
Holdin'
Globes
New
pandemic fear as cameraman falls ill in bird flu village
Reporter
killed in head-on collision
NBCU
Puts Four Stations Up for Sale
PGA
Announces New Agreements With CBS, NBC
Fire
kills anchorman
Former
TV reporter charged with shoplifting
Anchorwoman
Accepts Proposal on Air
Ex-TV
reporter Barth joins race for seat in Congress
ABC
Cameraman shot dead in Baghdad
Shootout
video cameraman drops out of sight
Spitting
at TV cameraman earns suspension
Pittsburgh
TV Reporter Cited For Trespassing
TV photogs attacked outside court
Break-in
delays W. Va. newscast debut
Viacom lays off 11 at KOVR, KMAX
Colo.
station suspends local news
NFL
won't act on Benson altercation with TV crew
Cameras
Captured a Disaster but Now Focus on Suffering
Cameraman Assaulted
