“Events” Items

Design 2000 Seminar at API: Presenter and Attendee

I was a presenter and an attendee at the American Press Institute’s Design 2000 and Beyond seminar.

Twenty-two leading U.S. and Canadian newspaper designers/editors were invited to API to discuss “newspapers at the turn of the century, from a design standpoint. What would newspapers look like and how would they evolve?”

Here’s a slide show of the book that produced from the seminar: https://www.digitalfuturist.com/home/memo-collection/design-2000-an-american-press-institute-project/design-2000-a-view-of-the-future-from-1988/

 

 

SND’s First Convention: My First Speech

The Society of News Design [at that point the group was called Newspaper Designers of America] held its first convention.  It was in Chicago, at the Tribune, Sept. 29-30, 1979. I held the newly created job of graphics editor [at that time it was titled graphics coordinator] at the newspaper.  It was a new type of job, as I was an editor, not an artist.  I worked closely with the art department to create informational graphics for the daily and Sunday pages. Tony Majeri, a founding member of the Society, invited me to describe my job to the 150 members at the convention.

The first edition of Design magazine ran my speech as an article. I still wish I had a chance to be more inclusive in my presentation. However, it does give readers an indication of the work the Tribune was doing at the time.

Here’s a link to an excerpt [PDF] of Design magazine that has two articles about the 1979 SND convention:

https://www.digitalfuturist.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/designmagazine_03_1980.pdf

Joining the Arizona Republic

Moving to the Arizona Republic was a big and important step in my career.  I finally reached the level I had work toward — the second level in newsroom management.  In 1987, The Republic was run by the managing editor.  Next on the organization chart were the assistant managing editors, of which I was the newest, with a newly created job.

Here’s the press release send by the parent company, Phoenix Newspapers, Inc.

PHOENIX, ARIZ . (July 30, 1987) — Howard I. Finberg, former photography and graphics editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, has been named to the newly created position of assistant managing editor/graphics at The Arizona Republic.

In his new position, Finberg will be responsible for the visual aspects of the paper–supervising the photo, graphic arts and page design departments. He also will play a major role in the redesign of the newspaper, a pioneer in pagination.

Later, after one of the three AMEs left the paper, I would assume responsibilities for the features sections and the Sunday editions.

In addition to the press release, there was a nice note in the newsroom’s newsletter, EN.  I like the small personal touch which talked about my interest in cooking.

Understanding Online Credibility. An ONA Project

One of the more interesting and challenging project I undertook as a consultant was as a co-author on a study of online credibility for the Online News Association, which was funded by the Knight Foundation. The purpose of the study was outlined in the press release from ONA:

The study will work to develop and promote principles and guidelines for online journalism focusing on proper relationships between editorial content, advertising and e-commerce; the development of ethical standards and avoidance of conflicts of interest; and appropriate use of hyperlinking in a journalistic environment.

It was a big project and a great learning opportunity about putting together a research project with a level of academic rigor.   My co-author was Martha Stone, another consultant.

“The results generated from ONA panel discussions and research will provide a foundation for the ongoing discussions regarding credibility in this very new medium. It is a chance to help shape solid journalistic practices early,” said Howard Finberg, co-director.

The project was announced by ONA via Business Wire release.

Named Director of Information Technology

In September of 1996, I was promoted to a new job and new responsibilities; from senior editor/information technology to director of information technology.  As the press release noted:

He will be responsible for planning of new technology across the company and will work closely with other directors in the development of new products and services. He will report to (John) Oppedahl and will continue to have responsibility for management of PNI’s electronic distribution of information.

It was an important opportunity as it put me on the company’s operating committee. Here’s a link to the story in the Arizona Republic.

Training Needs of Journalists: Poynter NewsU Survey

As we geared up development of Poynter’s e-learning project, the lack of information about journalists and online training was very evident.  While there were many studies about what journalists said they wanted in terms of training, there was scant evidence about how an online training program would be received.  I pushed hard to do a training needs assessment and by early 2004 we published the “Training: It Matters More Than Ever” report.

Many of the conclusions aren’t surprising, even 10 years later.

What stands between journalist and more training?

* Time
* Money
* Accessibility

What was surprising was the acceptance of e-learning as a potential for journalism training.  While only 18 percent of survey respondents had any experience with online training, more than 70 percent were interested in participating in e-learning.

“It validates our belief in e-learning,” Finberg says [in the report]. “It’s the research evidence that the concept we came up with is valid.  The real challenge will be in the execution…”

Bob Andelman wrote the report. He also wrote a story for Poynter Online.

Finding the Focus for Online Services

As part of the development process for AzCentral, the Phoenix Newspapers Inc. “skunk works” team undertook a couple of difficult, but important tasks.  One task was to better understand our potential audience.  With focus groups and other marketing research, we found some themes from our affinity groups:

  • The Travelers
  • Small business owners
  • Parents of young children
  • High school teachers

I really liked the idea that we wouldn’t talk only to “computer owners.” Rather we wanted to better understand how to serve the needs of our potential audience. Here’s what we wrote [I think by Dave Gianelli] about the process:

The four groups — people who like to travel, parents of young children, small­ business owners and high-school teachers – were selected after consulting with Ellen Jacobs, who guided the team throughout the process. We decided against creating focus groups out of demographics such as “computer owners” or “users of online services,” which are based more on the medium than content.

This strategy allowed the team to learn about the specific information needs of each group, and it pointed up some themes common across the groups. Also, the focus group members were varied in computer expertise: some used online services regularly, and others were thinking of joining one. Some said that they didn’t own a computer and that they didn’t plan to buy one.

We talked with the groups about how they get information (for planning a trip or a family outing, for example) and the frustrations they have in getting this information. What we found out can be used to help PNI shape its online services.

What is most interesting about this document is the VERY detailed inventory of the content that could be offered from existing material created by two newspapers, a business journal and an audiotext service.

From A (stock listings) to Zing!, our readers have access to news, sports, enter­tainment, computers, calendars, business and anything that fits under those umbrellas. And from The Arizona Republic, The Phoenix Gazette, Community and the Arizona Business Gazette comes access to other valuable reader services: PressLine, faxes and special sections.

As we wrote: It is a lot.  About 100 pages of inventory.  It is a great snapshot of the content that one newspaper in 1995 produced for its readers.

 

The Newspaper Industry’s Inflection Point

At Editor & Publisher’s 13th annual Interactive Conference and Trade Show in San Jose I gave a presentation titled “Digital Deliverance: Impact on the Newspaper Industry.”

One of the sections that rang true in 2002 and still relevant was about disruption:

With disruptive technologies, a company needs to throw off its existing culture and methods of doing business. While current customers are important, a disruptive technology demands that a company make sure these customers do not drive the company’s future direction. In other words, it means making sure old relationships — and their current economic value — do not drive business decisions needed for the future.

I argued that the newspaper industry was at “an inflection point.”  I think we have long past that point and the industry needs to quickly find ways to reinvent its business model.

What I liked about this presentation was the review of disruptive devices:

  • The Internet / Broadband
  • Information devices  / Wired and Wireless
  • Reading devices
  • Other digital devices  / Audio, Video, Gateways
(Remember, this is 2002.)

How NewsU Makes E-Learning Courses

Among the challenges facing Poynter’s e-learning project, NewsU, was the problem of explaining why e-learning could be an effective way to train journalists and the approach we use to make training that works.  Here’s what I wrote in a blog post about the project:

Our concept is simple. If you make the training tightly focused, you’ll help journalists learn. If you make the training engaging, you’ll help them learn. If you deliver training that is relevant, you’ll help them learn and do a better job.

This ran about five months after our launch.

While I wrote many journalists had “good instincts when it comes to teaching,” I also made this point:

To be effective at e-learning, you need to clearly understand WHAT you want to teach and HOW you want to teach.