NPR's program carries a $2.5 million price tag -- $1 million of its own, plus $1.5 million from the Knight Foundation. Some of that money is to pay wages for substitutes while the employees get trained. I can well imagine that outgoing USA Today Executive Editor Kinsey Wilson -- one of the top-circulation paper's No. 2 editors -- found that dollar commitment encouraging, alongside the shoe-strings training that Gannett now offers as it struggles to re-engineer itself as an all-digital operation.Wilson is USAT's most digitally-experienced top editor. But his pending departure, announced last week in a bare-bones memo, had shed little light on why he was leaving now. AJR's piece fills in the puzzle.
It appears NPR is doing it right, which probably appealed to Kinsey. For instance, the fact that money is being spent to pay wages for substitutes while employees get trained for online is a smart way to merge/transition.
ReplyDeleteAt the other end of the spectrum, what does USAT do? USAT requires many people to work on both platforms with virtually no training. In fact, USAT tells many people that they have to train themselves. USAT tries to keep the newspaper going with less than 50 percent of the staff it had in some departments just a year ago, while funneling staffers to the web site. Then the managers try to convince the remaining print people that these staffers who are being merged will work for both platforms, when in fact 90 percent of what they do is for the web site. That 90 percent loss in production, multiplied many times, is killing print.
The whole concept of the way some departments are being merged at USAT is a horror. The merger is a lie. It's not working. It's only meant to save the company money by demanding the impossible of people, and some people are getting hammered, not to mention left behind. The powers that be want to continue putting out a top-circulation newpaper while building a web site, and they want to do it with just an hour here and there of USAT U training.
Most upsetting is the fact that many of the managers overseeing the merger are oblivious to how people actually feel. Because everyone is being pressured to appear enthusiastic, these out-of-touch managers actually think things are going great and that everyone is happy and motivated! There will eventually be a price to pay for this forced happiness. People are already becoming more selfish and looking for ways to protect themselves, even if it means screwing a coworker.
Kinsey must of saw an organization in NPR that actually thinks things through, forms a solid plan, and backs it up with the bucks and people... Must have been quite impressed, especially in light of the Mickey Mouse USAT merger that has frustrated scores of people. And the tragic part about it is that with a smarter approach, USATers would have been more engaged, truly happy (not just pretending to be because they got a better schedule or because they are afraid of being laid off)...The USAT merger could have been productive and invigorating, but as usual, our leaders have failed us. They threw something against the wall to see if it would stick, and it hasn't. Yet, amazingly, they think it has! How do you debate someone who sees something that isn't there?
Good luck to Kinsey and anyone fortunate enough to follow him. No one wants to burn bridges, so the truth will never been known why anyone leaves USAT (exit interviews are a waste), but believe me, this is a sinking ship. People talk in dark corners of the building, venting with colleagues they can trust. Resumes are being updated daily. And if the economy and job market ever improves, USAT is going to lose a ton of people.
Seems like NPR set goals, made a plan and now will succeed. That's what a call authentic transformation. I'll bet Wilson is excited!
ReplyDelete"if the economy and job market ever improves, USAT is going to lose a ton of people"
ReplyDeleteThink about that: If you're not committed to a quality product, and you view your employees as disposable (crappy pay, no training), then why would you care if they leave the company? That just means that you can bring in new workers at lower pay, and continue to pump out nice fat margins.
USA Today has been taking a "rob Peter to pay Paul" approach to merging, and then lying about it for months. It's not a merger at all, in fact. And if you're Peter, you're awfully pissed these days! First you're being robbed, and then you're being told that staffers you just lost to the web site or buyouts or better companies aren't really lost. They are simply merged, or openings are creating new "hiring opportunities."
ReplyDeleteEven if you're Paul, things aren't always going that well lately. New pressures from being part of a larger organizations aren't sitting well with some people, which perhaps is why Kinsey jumped on the NPR offer. It seems clear that NPR's approach to merging or retraining or whatever you want to call it is far superior to USA Today's fiasco. I almost have to laugh at USA Today's approach. They make obvious errors in merging, and then compound them by making or adding to the same exact mistakes. It's almost like they are saying, "Hey, this didn't work, so let's do more of it." It's simply beyond comprehension how any of these managers got into the positions they are in.
The merger has created frustration and confusion at USA TODAY. Why? Because the details were never worked out prior to jerking around people, screwing with workflows and procedures that worked, etc. I've seen some incredibly sloppy plans that ignores all the little things that often make or break certain initiatives. Horrid communication, too. I don't how how much of the fault lies with Kinsey. I guess we'll find out if things worsen or get better. I still think USA TODAY has far too many cooks in the kitchen and not enough staffers and mid-managers in key spots. Quality control has taken a major hit in the last year.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how much of the frustation level the worker ants feel was experienced by Kinsey with the merger, but even if it was just a tiny percentage, it's no wonder he bolted. Boy, we needed change, but not this kind of change! This merger is a joke. When managers come up with these grand plans, do they ever think beyond the basic concepts? Conceptualization is great, but c'mon, how 'bout a little foresight. How 'bout not sticking your collective heads into the sand... We all want the web site to succeed, but in many regards, this is not the way to do it.
ReplyDeleteBlow up the merger and start over. There are too many things happening that are going to wreck the paper and the web site!!!!
ReplyDelete...and while you're at it, cure cancer and end world hunger. Those developments are just as likely as starting over.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't know how to solve this problem: The newspaper needs all the staff it has (and preferably more) to actually put out the paper. Dot-com needs more staff, especially veteran staff, than it's got right now just to be competitive. And there's no money to do either of those things.
There are clear opportunities for sharing work that are built around reporting, editing and photography (less with graphics, but some there too). But this idea that you can have all-singing, all-dancing, all-everything journalists goes only so far.
11:03 said: "But this idea that you can have all-singing, all-dancing, all-everything journalists goes only so far."
ReplyDeleteI entirely concur. The problem is that USA Today has misidentified where the prime opportunities lie for overlap in the merger, and are forcing some situations that shouldn't be forced because they are require entirely different skill sets and cultures. Some things, starting with certain types of visuals because of tech skills and vastly different deadlines, should have remained separate.
And it's not just about skills. It's about the workflow and how one person simply can't perform on both platforms and still meet deadlines and be productive. Why the people in charge don't understand that simple concept is a major question in many minds. Maybe they've been away from the hands-on work for too long.
Talk about workflows and graphics! Ugghhh. I have worked in various sections for years. We always knew how to get graphics requested and completed. There was a process. Yet for some reason, the graphics department seems to have created a new hybrid system that few of us fully understand. It has caused a lot of confusion, missed deadlines, wrong sizes, poor editing and other problems. I feel for the graphics department because there is hardly anyone down there anymore! But I still don't understand who to go to anymore when I need a graphic or need a revision made or just have a question. I see graphics people in the sections, but I don't know what their role is. I was told they were there to do print and online graphics, but that doesn't seem to be happening. At best it's kind of random in terms of what they do and don't do. At least that's the opinion of us folks on the front lines.
ReplyDeleteDid Kinsey create this system? Just curious and hopeful that it will change. It's sure not getting any better as we were told it would.
This blog created a day's worth of speculation on Wilson leaving....many people all along said "it was for a better job". But everyone loved the opportunity to throw in their two cents worth on the guy and the newsroom.
ReplyDeleteBlogging is fun but hardly ever accuarate at first post. It seems to merely lob ideas for discussion and rumor creation. Creates a lot of speculation. It seems to be the antithesis of journalism.
Journalism is unbiased reporting of facts.
Without getting into all the details or finger pointing, the merger-related changes in graphics have made life more difficult on the copy desk and on some assignment editors. I am not sure if Kinsey mandated those changes, but there does seem to be several messes he's leaving behind.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see how second-rate USAT/Gannett is, just look at the merger process at the flagship. Just one aspect of it - graphics - has apparently been grossly mishandled. I can't even begin to imagine what else, inside or outside the newsroom, has been handled in such an amateur manner.
ReplyDeleteOf course Mr. Wilson was going to accept an offer to go to an organization with more money, vision, training know-how and ability to transition in a logical and supportive manner from top to bottom. Question is, will he take full advantage of those goodies or oversee another digital transition that gets derailed by poor planning?
QUOTED: Seems like NPR set goals, made a plan and now will succeed....
ReplyDeleteYou know, if there was an NPR blog just like this one, I bet it would be full of the same "radio vs. digital," "the merger isn't working," the new software is "a joke," "the tube people don't get it," "all NPR cares about is catering to fat-cat foundations," etc., etc., similar to the over-the-top rhetoric so often heard here.
2:32 PM
ReplyDeleteDoubt it.
Seems NPR set a tone, planned and communicated the goals to staff and the public. Those are pretty key ingredients in a real transformation.
Same thing was done at USAT -- tone, planning and tons of communication. Whether the merger is working or not is one thing. But any staff member who thinks they weren't told what was coming just wasn't listening or didn't care.
ReplyDelete"Wilson is USAT's most experienced digital editor." I don't think that's true, although he is very experienced; I'm pretty sure at least three (and possibly more) people in USAT's newsroom have even more time in digital products than Wilson, which is saying something because he got into the game very early.
ReplyDeleteI'm still at a loss to understand why the departure of USAT's #2 editor rates one paragraph from Paulson and utter silence after that (how many people even know Wilson's last day is Friday?). I've seen clerks get a warmer send-off.
There's a lot of "who moved my cheese?" here. USAT's former print staff is full of specialists who suddenly find they need to become flexible generalists. And its former web staff finds that in a full newsroom you can't pick and choose a few things to work on, shovel wire for the rest and go home after 8 hours. The result is messy, but big changes usually are.
ReplyDeleteThere's a big USAT party for Kinsey on Monday and the entire staff's been notified.
ReplyDeleteHe is not being shuffled out quietly, nor will his departure be treated without emotion, regret and tribute.
For those who want to cheer his leaving, have a fine old time, but the spin that this was some conspiracy to get rid of him, or that his departure is welcomed, just don't know the facts. He will be missed.
12:08 Wow a mature person on the blog! A real professional with facts about a situation instead of the usual bullshit that people conjure up here with no basis in facts.
ReplyDeleteThis blog prints total BS 99 percent of the time. Its the equivalent to middle school.