Jeff, thanks for starting this Substack! As someone who’s been a behind-the-scenes editor for a long time, has moved from print magazines to digital content, and has a journalism degree, I agree with everything you said here. But here’s what I grapple with on a daily basis: What’s the solution? At my job, I see all the metrics that show a 500-word news piece with very little reporting outperforms a detailed story that required significant time and effort by a factor of 10. Media outlets don’t have a “quality” KPI, unfortunately. The Athletic seems to have things figured out with its membership model. NBA writer (and fellow CSUF alumnus) Marc Stein recently ventured out on his own with a subscription Substack—is that the future of sports journalism? I’d like to know how you’d make this kind of quality journalism work in 2021.
The role of journalist is morphing. I think some j-schools are evening transitioning away from calling it Journalism and more multimedia or adding “Multimedia” to Journalism. Well said, Jeff!
Jeff, thanks for starting this Substack! As someone who’s been a behind-the-scenes editor for a long time, has moved from print magazines to digital content, and has a journalism degree, I agree with everything you said here. But here’s what I grapple with on a daily basis: What’s the solution? At my job, I see all the metrics that show a 500-word news piece with very little reporting outperforms a detailed story that required significant time and effort by a factor of 10. Media outlets don’t have a “quality” KPI, unfortunately. The Athletic seems to have things figured out with its membership model. NBA writer (and fellow CSUF alumnus) Marc Stein recently ventured out on his own with a subscription Substack—is that the future of sports journalism? I’d like to know how you’d make this kind of quality journalism work in 2021.
The role of journalist is morphing. I think some j-schools are evening transitioning away from calling it Journalism and more multimedia or adding “Multimedia” to Journalism. Well said, Jeff!