How can Editors & Writers be Retrained
to Optimize Multimedia Engagement?
2.30pm – 4pm, July 12, 2013
Presented by
Anita Devasahayam,
Trinetizen Media, trinetizen.com

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New roles in journalism/publishing
• Web editor
• Community developer
• Search engine optimizer
• Multimedia producer
• Digital content producer
• Database programmer
• Data visualization programmer
• Content aggregator or curator
• Director of audience engagement or development
• “Seeking nerdy journalist or journalism
nerd” *
* Actual advert for a new publication

“The Roman Empire that was mass media
is breaking up, and we are entering an
almost feudal period where there will be
many more
centers of power
and influence.”
Orville Schell, Dean,
UC-Berkeley
journalism school

Signs the empire is crumbling
• Little or no innovation, R & D
• Shackled to sticking to the knitting
mentality, management have lost touch with
customers/readers/audience, do not fully
embrace change of any kind
• A frenzy of redundancy, producing more of
the same, no bias for creativity or technology
• Active inertia* – Relying on the past and
taking small measures which aren’t focused,
measurable, and internalized by whole
organization
* Ref: Don Sull, Revival of the Fittest

People “formerly known as readers”
• Spoilt for choice
• Media agnostic: No single product/brand
loyalty (destination sites/portals waning)
• Frustrated with all-in-one package, want
customized media
• Want to be part of process, more
engagement
• Increasingly media-savvy and empowered
• Emerging as new generation of video
producers, creative class of their own

Challenges
• Fear of change.
• Individualistic nature of journalists, editors.
• Silo thinking in editorial/sections/ad depts
• Online and mobile news sites not generating
enough revenue as print.
• A few big media turning away from search
engines and setting up paywalls (may fail).
• Print still regarded as priority –
online/mobile not fully embraced by
management or developed as independent
entity.
• Competition from unlikely competitors
continues to grow.

Feed the shark, before it feeds on you

Opportunities
• Multimedia-skilled, multi-taskers will
thrive.
• Greater community participation in the
journalism process by engaging with public.
• More accountability and transparency by
tapping into public’s experience, knowledge
and creativity.
• Individual journalists/editors may be able to
break out on their own and create new
ventures for the company or themselves.
• Experiments in media innovation (eg:
hyperlocalism, crowdsourcing) may create
new business models to replace outdated
models.

7 Lessons from Training
• Begin with end in mind: Skill sets to be integrated with
workflow immediately, incentives and rewards in place.
• Flexibility of trainer is crucial: online, face-to-face,
hands-on, longterm: basic, intermediate, advanced
• There are no shortcuts. Building online communities
surrounding multimedia content takes time, there are no
shortcuts, your entire team AND all your “former readers”
need to be behind you.
• The good news: It’s early days yet, so your
competitors aren't too far in the distance.
• It is still a period of experimentation so try, fail, try,
fail, try, fail, try again.
• You will get better at it, so just do it!
• People will care, if you care.

“Technology is nothing. What's
important is that you have a faith
in people, that they're basically
good and smart, and if you give
them tools, they'll do wonderful
things with them,”
Steve Jobs