Photo: www.big13.net
I look around the newsroom, and notice my colleagues busily working away on their individual news assignments. 415ers and 692ers are contacting sources and putting together VOSOTs. A 693 producer is organizing the newscast and a 693 reporter is working on a package, while a 694er sits at the newsroom desk repurposing a script. Each of their educational purposes vary somewhat and their tasks are divided. I think what the station needs to work on is content production by way of colleague cohesion.
The 693/694 projects that we just did was a good start at getting the separate divisions (reporting and online producing) of the newsroom working together. While it was frustrating and required constant communication, I believe that the project my group turned in was a reflection of individuals working to their strengths to produce a higher quality package than what could have been accomplished by ourselves. The project allowed us to work in cross-functional teams, in which we used our different expertise to work toward a common goal.
I feel that a common thought among my colleagues is that when they enroll for let's say J-694: Online producing and Web design, they relinguish their reporting skills. In reality, that doesn't happen and we need to be prepared to use the previous skills we acquired when needed. We also need to work together and be willing to help each other out to produce quality content, epecially when we are able to do so.
Laurel and I got a bit frustrated at the beginning of the year when we noticed that the things we had done for our online producers when we were reporting wasn't being done for us. We thought it was required of reporters to hand their online producers their TV script as they did the TV producer. Laurel and I felt there wasn't an open line of communication between reporters and online producers.
We paid a visit to the 692 class the following week to discuss our want for teamwork. We asked the reporters if they could help us to help make their stories better by a) printing us off a copy of their script as well, b) give us any literature they used to develope their story, and c) provide us with links or graphic ideas that they feel are useful. They seemed willing to do what we suggested, but it didn't last long. I think it's because we lacked the authority to implement our proposal.
So to do so, I think we need one of two things: Class liasons or a content facilitator. A class liason would communicate with the other classes' laisons to inform them of what their classmates are working on and of any problems/concerns with projects that a reporter, producer, or online producer could help them with. A content facilitator would add the authority and maintenance that Laurel and I don't have. This person's job would be to keep the flow of content production moving. Essentially, they would be the bridge that connects the classes together.
I feel that these changes would help improve our content production by having cross-functional members, or one facilitating all, to help develop more teamwork in the newsroom, since in the end what one of us does, or doesn't do, can ultimately impact the other.
Sarah, What a thoughtful post. Your concerns are very much an extension of what happens in the "real" world. Various divisions don't talk to each other and work is sliced horizontally and vertically. The best thing you can do (as you head out into the big bad media world) is equip yourself with as much knowledge & experience as possible. Think of extra work as extra tools you will have as you move forward. I promise you, they will come in handy.
I agree with Sim that you have done some real thinking on this. Whowould be the liason and how would it work?
The liaisons would be appointed students or a student, who wants to do or could do a Practium, to facilitate it. The appointed students would be in charge of being in constant communication with the other appointed liasons of the other classes to inform them of what their classmates are working on. If anyone needs help, the class liason would direct the person or get him/her in contact with another liaison. For example, the online producer liaison could get help for them with a web extra or something. The facilitator, on the other hand, would stay in the newsroom all the time to make sure that everyone knows what the others are doing. For instance, he/she would make sure scipts are turned into the producer/online producer. Pretty much their job is to make sure everyone in the newsroom is informed. That even means coming to you and Dick for information to relay to students, and is someone the students can come to when they have communication problems, like my 692/694 team had with Andrew Sherwood's in-depth.