Issues

Chairman's Column: What’s Par for This Hole?

Ed Esposito

Golf season is pretty much over in my neck of the woods, but the headline sets the argument: just how many shots do we get at moving some cheese in the journalism profession?

Let’s add some visualization to the economic uncertainty that blankets our neighborhoods and newsrooms: what would your reaction be stepping into the shoes of your GM or corporate VP when giving thought to journalism’s alphabet soup?

Here’s a short list that immediately comes to mind: RTNDA, PRNDI, SPJ, ONA, ASNE, APME,
AAJA, NABJ, NAHJ, NAJA, NLGJA, UNITY, AEJMC, NPPA…not to mention local Press Clubs, college, university and trade schools. You get the picture. As top corporate honcho, what’s your call on who gets the love and who gets the scraps?

This really isn’t a philosophical exercise; media executives everywhere are making these decisions, and now. We need to readjust our thinking and embrace the larger view that we are
truly all in this. We should still represent our diverse interests but now more than ever we need to send the message we will do our part.

Rather than fighting over scraps our own alphabet community needs to reinforce that we are an investment worthy of continued support.

RTNDA is engaged in this process with our colleagues while working to redefine the association.

Each of our respective organizations has a dedicated mission that benefits the owners and managers of newspapers, magazines, radio, television and online news operations. We can create better ways to develop and tell the stories of our communities in a way that drives a profit or shows a non-profit stewardship of other people’s money.

At the same time we build the skill set of our diverse workforce. The economy is the key driver in
taking this mission in another direction. Industry leaders who recognize the value of investing in journalists now make tough decisions; their support of our mission may be the first item on the budget tightrope. We need to help them find balance.

This is not the time to drop support. It is a time for those of us in the world of journalism associations to recognize we have an important opportunity to do more together. Working in tandem by serving the bigger interest—our joint membership of journalists, regardless of platform or personal interest, is the path to showing managers we recognize the challenge and
are worth scarce dollars.

UNITY is a great example of how diverse journalist groups come together. Every four years, big and small media companies have a larger pool to recruit the next generation. Journalists have an opportunity to learn and lead on a national scale. It is that efficiency of scale that helps keep the tent big enough for all to participate.

Our organizations—ALL of ’em—must send a message to the executive ranks. We recognize the hard times; we see it fi rst-hand thanks to the trust you place in us to report on the communities
in which you do business. The people in your newsrooms pay rent, have mortgages, and need credit every bit as much as the business does. We understand there’s a vital connection
between the health of the company and the security of the paycheck. But what we do goes beyond the bottom line. What we need from the executives of journalism: signs you still embrace
the mission, even during these hard times, because this is the most important time for our audience to be informed and aware. Investment in the workforce develops skills that benefit
your business models, and support for advocacy on our behalf keeps the industry focused and strong.

Ours is a simple argument: we help your bottom line, helping set standards for excellence and responsible journalism to allow the business model to prosper and the community model to
grow. RTNDA fights on behalf of the First Amendment against regulatory climate and� challenges, and that’s good business and public service. The newsroom our members build
is still what brings your customers to listen, watch, participate and read. We’re worth the outlay now because it builds and strengthens the ties to your audience tomorrow. These are difficult decisions when dollars make such a difference, but the difference is as much about the future of the industry as it is the next quarterly statement.

My Midwest brain finds this a very simple equation: executives in the boardrooms and the leaders of our journalism organizations should have the vision to know rewards come at the
harvest, and it’s planting time. What we need from the associations: turning talk about how we can work more closely and refocus our efforts on the big picture, not parochial interests.

Both for and not-for-profit executives struggle now more than ever and we need to reinforce our value in the real world.

We need leadership to take the devil out of the details of joining forces for wider and more accessible professional development and industry advocacy. The convergence in our newsrooms demands the same in our respective groups because the marketplace is forcing
aside those who thought they had more time to avoid the future.—Ed Esposito
is vice president of information media for Rubber City Radio Group in Akron, OH.