God bless Clarke Bustard, since he was on the leading edge of the exodus from Franklin Street with his retirement from the Richmond Times-Dispatch three years ago. In a Back Page commentary in the latest Style Weekly, Bustard captures the emotions of many as he describes the latest chapter in the redefinition of Richmond's daily newspaper. He captures the emotions well.
He also misses the mark -- or perhaps hits it in a insular way.
Reading the first part of Bustard's piece, I found myself nodding in agreement -- but not about the unique position of a local newspaper losing its old guard. No, Bustard's description of the impact of several rounds of layoffs and retirements have had on the Times-Dispatch could have been written about any business or industry in transition:
In a newsroom, people bond on a level not seen in other large offices. Long-term relationships and marriages are common. So is kinship in adversity, the kind that grows among combat troops or emergency-response teams. Colleagues tolerate — often cheer on — shouting matches, sarcasm, exhilaration, deep gloom, simmering rage, eccentricities of all kinds, constant second-guessing and perpetual grousing. (Truth and candor breaking free, we like to think.) Hardcore newspaper people need to be housebroken before they can be let loose in the corporate, bureaucratic environment.
What the public loses in a big newsroom layoff goes by the clunky term institutional memory. Community memory is a better way to put it. Experienced reporters and editors have developed hundreds of contacts, extending deep into the rosters and mindsets of local institutions; their lists often branch off to experts encountered during the years, people who can offer perspective — and sensible quotes — on most any subject that crops up in the day’s news. That Rolodex, and the person-to-person encounters that built it, leave with the newsroom veteran.
Younger news gatherers bring a different currency, and different stakes, to the table. A 20-something reporter typically is eager and energetic, ready to drop everything to jump on a promising story, skip meals, lose sleep, put in hours that aren’t rewarded in the paycheck. At that age, reporters are on the make professionally. A few years of solid work culminating in a hot story well told, leading to a job at a bigger paper, seems a real possibility — especially if you’re not yet married, rearing a family and sinking roots into the community.
His descriptions of the relationships formed in newsrooms could have been written a few years ago about the construction industry or some of the tighter-knit departments at Circuit City. In fact, many of Bustard's observations and arguments were coin-of-the-realm in the last industry I watched transition -- the fast-growing, industry-changing construction materials company where I was employed for 12 years.
During the middle of that stint, our business model was transformed by a handful of smart, innovative leaders who worked hard to balance a compelling vision of the future against the needs of the business and a culture not known for its adaptability. They failed a little less often than they succeeded, and they spent a lot of time trying to ease the transition for the more conservative, seasoned corners of the company. But in the end, much of that old culture vanished in the face of new technology, new business practices and, yes, a new generation.
Bustard is right when he says the Times-Dispatch -- having lost many of its old-timers and reporting heavyweights -- will be:
...on a steep learning curve for at least a couple of years. It’s going to miss some stories, and misinterpret others because a reporter doesn’t know the back story or misses some signal in a source’s turn of phrase or body language. It’s going to have awkward encounters with both its longtime readers and the newer, younger, more diverse audience it hopes to attract. It will negotiate the shifting terrain of printed and online content: words written and spoken, pictures still and moving, audio breaking the silence of print.
But isn't that true whenever institutions confront change -- whether by choice, by force or by stupidity?
Bustard is right to be concerned about the Times-Dispatch's ability to move through all of the changes, challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Those changes, challenges and opportunities lie ahead whether the paper is staffed by seasoned veterans or understaffed by a younger, less experienced cadre of reporters.
I'm not entirely convinced that the paper isn't better positioned to navigate the future without so much history and experience providing sage -- and cautionary -- advice. Especially if their voices are at all similar to the committed, experienced and smart veteran engineers I worked with through a similar transition in an entirely different industry.
Most of those conversations were about why things couldn't, wouldn't and shouldn't change.
If there's one thing that's obvious about the newspaper industry it's that change is the order of the day.
