I missed this week’s #wjchat (congrats on two years running!), but went through afterwards and found some goodies. Enjoy!
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Intro
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Share“Tonight we’re talking Dev Collaboration in Your Newsroom with host @RyanPitts of the @SpokesmanReview #wjchat
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Lightning round
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Share“We’re starting tonight’s #wjchat with a Lightning Round aimed solely for @RyanPitts … ready Ryan? Here comes lightning!
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Share“LR1 @RyanPitts What came first: Journalism or Development?
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Share“@wjchat LR1 I was a lit major, started as a part-time reporter in Idaho. Total small newsroom experience. Did a little of everything #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat LR1 Having done writing/editing/design makes it easier to collaborate & communicate with people now that I do dev work. #wjchat
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Share“LR2 @RyanPitts What got you into coding and development? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat LR3 I’m curious, and a little OCD. Lucky to have job that indulges both. I learn by doing & build dumb things for practice. #wjchat
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Question 1
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Share“Q1A Describe your newsroom and devs relationship? Are the devs sitting nearby? Do journos and devs interact? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat My music reference was no mistake. Collaboration is all about the starting riff. Write it. Then find your rhythm section. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat As we all work with more data, there’s a real need to give newsrooms a safe place to keep it. A “data library” if you will. #wjchat
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Share“If developers aren’t in meetings, aren’t in the newsroom, can’t control decisions than you’ll never build a newsroom of the future #wjchat
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Share“@kimbui @wjchat I think sitting in the same room is really underrated. Has a HUGE positive effect. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q1 Back when I was at ST.com, we created an R&D team that was indie and also collaborated w the newsroom. #wjchat
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Question 2
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Share“Q2 Does anyone on the development team regularly meet with people from other departments? Should they? Why? #wjchat
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Share“@ryanpitts @kimbui agreed! Different-room devs are not anywhere the same as same-room devs. Devs all know this. #wjchat
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Share“Developers, designers, journalists and dreamers should work at a table together. #wjchat
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Share“If you don’t have developers, find the angry and bored, give them time and resources to learn. You will be surprised. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q2 YES. Morning scrum includes a rep from city desk. Weekly with devs from other depts. Bi-weekly with heads of other depts. #wjchat
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Share“Developer: n, one who writes poetry to beget magic that changes the world. #wjchat
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Share“A2 Regular meetings with other areas of a news org are important. Lack of communication will choke growth potential. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q2: the more important question: what are you talking about in said meetings? Just meeting is a waste of time. #wjchat
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Share“i don’t think developers should just do “the bidding” of any department YMMV #wjchat
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Share“@ryanpitts Huh. I’ve always been in fear of talking dev for fear of….fear. #wjchat
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Share“@ryanpitts @kimbui I’ve officially started to incorporate scrum in my class this semester, as we work on a project. #wjchat
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Share“.@hbillings absolutely, but at least one developer should be in budget meetings. Tough to push forward if you’re always behind. #wjchat
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Share“A2 On a more fundamental level, getting everyone sharing thoughts about development should be a routine newsroom thing. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat MT @hbillings I think we more meant “huddles” and chats where you trash out what to do #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q2 They better. Sure they need to be indie, but they need to be plugged in/baked into the newsroom. Not isolated in a bubble #wjchat
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Question 3A
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Share“Q3A What is IT’s role in development within the newsroom, if any? #wjchat
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Share“Development should not be limited to a department. It should be something entire staff should do. #wjchat
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Share“I honk @jxpaton saying put “digital folks” in charge must include engineers. They fit that bill too #wjchat
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Share“Start with someone who wants to produce. MT @carlvlewis: Dev should not be limited to a depart. Should be something entire staff do. #wjchat
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Share
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Share“Q3A IT (systems) folk can have a big impact on development especially by the software and hardware they buy and don’t #wjchat
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Share“@yurivictor IMO, if you don’t know about something important until the budget meeting, you’re already behind. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat 3A: IT departments are often a crutch for newsroom employees not having to learn the tools themselves. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat: That said about A3, @brianboyer gave some good advice. There are devs waiting to happen in the souls of a lot of IT folks. #wjchat
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Share“A3 if you don’t want IT in the newsroom, you’ve hired the wrong IT. or your priorities are twisted. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Developers are blacksmiths. We build the tools and maintain the blast furnace. #wjchat
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Share“A3 news apps won’t save your journalisms. technology innovation needs to happen on all fronts. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q3A I’ve had good IT experiences & bad IT experiences.: good ones support your ideas, & find solutions to grow, responsibly. #wjchat
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Share“@kimbui: You figure many are 99/100ths of the way there already just from their knowledge. Channel and magic can happen…
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Share“@wjchat Q3A Bad ones.. They are road blocks, telling you they can’t do anything. Frankly, they don’t want to change, evolve or grow. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat I think IT is defined differently in almost every shop. #wjchat
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Question 3B
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Share“Q3B How do you foster a positive relationship with your organization’s IT department? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q3B DO NOT TREAT THEM LIKE A SERVICE DESK! They are team members too. Get them involved. Loop ’em in. #wjchat
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Share“Q3B good question – IT caught in middle – management want more security for less money – journos want everything faster, freer etc. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q3B No surprises. Respect the fact that they’re SUPPOSED to be conservative. Investing in that relationship pays off. #wjchat
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Share“A3B Natural curiosity about the inner workings of the job. i.e. How can I do “x” more efficiently (and call IT less often)? #wjchat
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Question 3C
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Share“Late addition Q3C Inspired by @kensands:Define IT in your shop. #wjchat
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Share“IT Department: Bad ones fight change and won’t evolve. Good ones support and backup your vision for the future #wjchat
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Share“IT is about rules. I’ve seen more legacy thinking in IT than in any journalist. #wjchat
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Share“A3B A quote I like from @derekwillis: “IT didn’t intend to encounter people like us. Help them understand you have the same goal.” #wjchat
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Share“A4 Demonstrate initiative. Understand what the corporate direction is and show how you can develop, advance within their framework. #wjchat
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Share“Always listen to corporate. Listen, but do what’s best for your users. Raise hell. #wjchat
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Share“Must say I’ve known some very progressive IT folks. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q3C: IT depts. stifle innovation, as their primary goal is to maintain system rather than improve it. #wjchat
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Share“@henrymlopez I’ve met both awesome and terrible IT folks. But then again, I could say the same thing about reporters. #wjchat
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Share“Just as journalists should get educated on IT, IT should get training on basic journalist practices and strategies. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat A3B: I spend most of my time with IT. Curious creatures. Curious. Tap into that. #wjchat
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Share“As my boss would say, asking for forgiveness is usually easier than asking for permission… MT @ChrisLKeller: Ask forgiveness … #wjchat
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Share“Developers need to come up with their own ideas or they will always be slaves and treated as such. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat The senior web staff has a weekly meeting on projects. But we try to be as collaborative as poss. outside of that. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat in general, the IT world looks for automation, while journalists look to add value by using judgment, a manual proces. #wjchat
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Question 4
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Share“Q4: via @joemurph What do you do when your developers aren’t in the newsroom? How best deal with corporate? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q4 Our ideas come from all corners. Sitting in newsroom means people can walk up with an idea and discuss it on the spot. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat To @yurivictor’s point, sitting in newsroom also means we get to walk up to reporters and editors with our ideas too. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat #wjchat A3 I like @cjoh’s advice: Make certain that they feel like they’re integral to the mission. Cuz they are, damnit!
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Question 5
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Share“Q5 How does your newsroom come up with project ideas (that require dev resources)? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat New dev. ideas almost always come from bottom-up rather than top-down: Interns, self-starter reporters and devs. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat #wjchat Gotta disagree w/ @yurivictor. The best ideas often come frm the newsroom. Build great relationships w/ reporters & editors.
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Share“.@wjchat IT are the Ewoks of media companies. You’ve infiltrated their jungle home. Together you must fight the Empire. #wjchat
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Share“@brianboyer @wjchat @yurivictor The great relationships is the key, isn’t it. Don’t want to be a service desk OR an ivory tower. #wjchat
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Question 6
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Share“Q6 Do you know how the development team prioritizes which projects to work on? If so, what’s its system? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q6 First we account for news schedule, timely apps. Beyond that, master list of projects that gets reprioritized regularly. #wjchat
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Share“.@brianboyer Not in an absolute sense. I mean developers should feel empowered to tell a reporter to write a story for a project. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q6 All other things being equal, we try to favor projects that our sales folks can also get excited about. #wjchat
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Share“@ryanpitts @brianboyer @wjchat @yurivictor very true, great relationships can make or break teams and their projects. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat A job I don’t envy is prioritizing our mission, the journalism and building better infrastructure to support all of that. #wjchat
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Share“@brianboyer sometimes the newsroom doesn’t know what they don’t know though. How can they come up with more than a topic like that? #wjchat
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Share“@brianboyer @yurivictor I disagree w/ both of u. It takes a combo of freedom 4 the devs + ideas from the 1/2 #wjchat
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Share“@brianboyer @yurivictor newsroom cus the devs know what the limits of the current technology. 2/2 #wjchat
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Share“Much of what I’m hearing sounds like the result of poor leadership. Lack of strong voice orchestrating a direction. #wjchat
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Share“A lot of crazy in #wjchat tonight. Some of the best journo nerds work for IT…
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Share“@wjchat #wjchat @yurivictor @ryanpitts It’s a principle of making software successfully. Your stakeholders must be invested in the process.
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Share“The fact is, many great news apps can be created, and stories can be told, but how is it being “sold” to advertisers — and readers? #wjchat
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Question 7
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Share“Q7A How do you communicate priorities when your newsroom is competing for limited resources? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat A7A Be a self-starter. Do it yourself, show it to editors later. Demos not memos. If it’s half-done they can’t say no. #wjchat
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Share“@tswicegood @doctor1010 #wjchat Certainly. And that’s our duty — to show the newsroom what’s possible.
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Share“@AMartinMedia THat’s my point, such structures are designed to spawn bad leadership. We need better orchestrators in orgs. #wjchat
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Share“@kimbui So news orgs need to stop whining about decreasing revenue, promote SALES/MARKETING innovation. #wjchat
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Share“@kimbui So news orgs need to stop whining about decreasing revenue, promote SALES/MARKETING innovation. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat I don’t think you say ‘No’, I think you work off their idea to make something that works. Compromise, innovate, share. #wjchat
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Share“Gotta get the innovators, devs in role of leadership. That’s when you’re going to see real, valuable change in the newsroom #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q7A Keep that master project list. Everyone’s familiar with limited resources, so be transparent about what’s on your list. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q7B This is a tough one. You have to be honest. Not enough hours to work on every good idea. Journalists understand this. #wjchat
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Share
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Share“@nsandlin Yeah. Someone once said something smart about our orgs not being platforms anymore, but distributors. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Stay focused, advocate for your idea if you care about it. Sometimes people just don’t hear you the first time. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat I don’t mind a “no” if the reasoning behind not being able to do something is solid and explained well. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q7B When you do have to say “no,” point toward DIY tools that help them develop skills along the way. Win-win? #wjchat
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Share“A7B create a culture of honesty and respect saying no is as important as saying yes #wjchat
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Question 8
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Share“Q8 What if Dev folks dismiss/blow you off? Or they’re ‘dragging their heels’ … how do you address that? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q8 Make your case for why Thing X is important/vital/etc. #wjchat
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Share“@MikeRoe Very true. Buy-in isn’t important just for convincing the higher-ups. Getting all people on board makes a difference. #wjchat
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Question 9
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Share“Q9 How do you break old habits and create new ones to support traditional and digital products? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q9 lead by example, show proof that others want to emulate #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat A9 Get people involved and passionate in new habits. Show them new possibilities instead of just telling them. #wjchat
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Share“A9. Train, coach, train, instruct. Did I mention training? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat I have come ot realize though however, whoever came up with “demos not memos” was a very smart person. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q9 One of our core values: Remember we’re asking people to change longtime habits, and making them happy means better work. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q9 We try hard to redirect workflows, not simply rip them up or build on top of them. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q9 If we want to, say, get searchability for online calendar, it HAS to go web first. So we make tool that sends to print. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat A9 Demonstrate the goal or endgame before you start. Stay persistent, check in often and tweak as necessary. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat A9: I took the initiative & tried something new. When staff saw reader reaction, they were inspired to do the same #wjchat
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Question 10
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Share“Q10 People say take risks and embrace failure, but, honestly, would your newsroom be okay to fail at something? #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Failure at one thing is better than the protracted decline we’ll have if we don’t try at all. #wjchat
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Share“@kimbui You have to build creative thinking into your culture. Every aspect. Down to the way you communicate internally. No excuses. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat Q10 Things move so fast that you’ve got to dedicate time to deciding which things to STOP doing. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat A9: Habits are easy. But they’re always hard at first. Get hard journalism. There. I said it. #wjchat
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Share“@laurenrabaino I learned the hard way. But now I’d rather walk to every desk than send an all-staff e-mail. #wjchat
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Share“@wjchat This. Right now. Is a critical moment in time. We can’t wait for successes only. Failure IS an option. #wjchat
