#MozNewsLab week three: Five tips on collaborating in the newsroom

Posted: August 8, 2011 | Author: Alex Samur | Filed under: MozNewsLab | Tags: #moznewslab | 1 Comment »

In week three of the #MozNewsLab, our speakers discussed some of the many (many!) challenges they’ve faced in news environments. In particular, having to “do more with less” as newsroom budgets shrink, (cultural) resistance to change and communication barriers — like talking tech to non-techies — were but a few of the obstacles outlined in lectures by Shazna Nessa (Director of Interactive at the Associated Press), Mohamed Nanabhay (Head of Online at Al Jazeera English), and Oliver Reichenstein (designer and CEO of Information Architects).

As such, the question we put to learning lab participants picked up on these challenges:

Keeping in mind the objectives and challenges identified in this week’s presentations …how does your project take into account the need to facilitate collaboration in the newsroom (whether real or virtual), while acknowledging that team members will have varying technological skill sets?

From their responses, it’s clear many have been frustrated by these very same obstacles in trying to introduce new technologies and approaches into the newsroom:

“I keep hearing this common refrain: Cultural change within journalism institutions is the biggest barrier to adopting new technology and adapting to new and changing audiences.  And that stasis really has been the bane of my existence as a wannabe data-journalist,” says Rhiannon Coppin.

Saleem Khan links this “resistance to change” problem to competitive newsroom cultures that are arguably in conflict with the transparent, collaborative ecosystems associated with open source technologies:

“Journalists work in a competitive environment in a way that is at odds with other fields, especially open source technology and software…Deep, meaningful collaboration typically occurs only in small units, if at all.”

The underlying chicken-egg question that these responses inspire is best summed up by Katie Zhu who asks:

“If we’re building tools to change [newsroom] culture, then do we first build the tools or first change the culture?”

Reading through this week’s blog posts suggests that the answer to Katie’s question is “a bit of both.”  In looking at their projects, participants have proposed  a variety of approaches and dreamt up several different tools to overcome barriers in the newsroom.

Here are five excellent tips they share on collaborating in newsrooms:

1.   Patience!

Understand that revolutions don’t happen overnight and it probably won’t be tools that cause the sea- change to loosen rigid newsroom regimes.

Cody Shotwell notes: “Tools won’t cause the newsroom culture shift, but their creation is part of the process.”

2.  Listen and learn.

Cole Gillespie advises listening and understanding to the problem at hand before trying to help. “Really understanding the problem that someone comes to you with makes a huge difference when you are trying to solve things for others,” he says.

3.  Embrace clear communication.

Just because journalists have deadlines to meet, doesn’t mean they don’t want to learn about new tools. To the contrary, Shaminder Dulai stresses it’s important to find new ways to communicate to teach tech: “the question really is, how best to explain your complex new idea to an eager audience that may not speak tech, but speaks storytelling.”

4.  Collaborate with your colleagues.

It’s natural for developers to spend time alone working on ideas — but don’t forget to involve the people who’ll be carrying out and using the final product from start to finish, counsels Amy Zerba in her video “How to pitch an idea inside the newsroom.” In her video, she illustrates a scenario of how an idea pitch might be carried out and ultimately adopted in a newsroom.

5.  Under-promise and over-deliver.

Finally, once you’ve succeeded in introducing a new idea into the newsroom, the best strategy to win over sceptics is to make sure to “under-promise and over-deliver,”  then  “get in the trenches and get down to the job,” says Chris Keller.  “Co-workers are more likely to turn into co-conspirators if you are busting through tasks right alongside them, and whistling while you do it.”

Thanks to all of those who shared their insights. It has been (and will likely continue to be) an unpredictable time for our industry.  Those just starting out— whether in a fellowship or internship, or with their first journalism contract or job — may feel the future of journalism on their shoulders. Hopefully these reminders and new relationships developed over the weeks at the learning lab will help ease the transition into the industry, providing patience and inspiration to facilitate the changes necessary for good journalism to remain possible and relevant through this cultural shift.

On that note, the #MozNewsLab final projects are due today!! Curious about the #MozNewsLab? Take a gander at what we’ve been working on, Tweet us and read our blog posts.

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