Matt DeRienzo is group editor of Journal Register Company's publications in Connecticut, including the New Haven Register, Middletown Press, Register Citizen and Connecticut Magazine. Contact him at mderienzo@journalregister.com.
Steve Buttry’s Blog- Advice for editors: Ask, don’t tell May 17, 2013This continues a series on advice for new top editors in Digital First Media newsrooms. Sometimes a new editor inadvertently squelches staff creativity and initiative by telling staff members what they should be doing and how. An editor can communicate priorities and stimulate staff creativity by asking, rather than telling. Whether you’re asking about gener […]
- Advice for editors: Make training a priority May 16, 2013This continues a series on advice for new top editors in Digital First Media newsrooms. A Digital First editor leads a lot of change in a newsroom. So you need to be sure that your staff receives the training to execute the changes you are leading. I help with this in my visits to the […]
- Sue Burzynski Bullard’s advice for editors: Do what you say you’ll do — by being organized May 15, 2013This guest post by Sue Burzynski Bullard continues a series on advice for new top editors in Digital First Media newsrooms. A piece of advice someone once gave me became my rule to live by as an editor: “Always do what you say you’ll do.” Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But the transition from being responsible only […]
- Advice for editors: Lead Digital First meetings May 14, 2013This continues a series on advice for new top editors in Digital First Media newsrooms. Daily news meetings are an important place for editors to emphasize priorities. If a morning meeting focuses on the next day’s newspaper, that will be the focus of the staff’s energies. A Digital First editor should place the focus, especially […]
- Advice for editors: Lead and stimulate discussions of ethics May 10, 2013This continues a series on advice for new top editors in Digital First Media newsrooms. Journalism ethics should be a topic of frequent discussions in a Digital First newsroom. I’ve already mentioned the importance of stressing and upholding accuracy in your newsroom. The editor needs to make standards clear to the staff. Even if you […]
- Advice for editors: Ask, don’t tell May 17, 2013
- John Paton’s Blog
- Peter Worthington: Patriot, Warrior and Journalist May 13, 2013My first editor, Peter Worthington, died today at age 86. He fought in WW II and Korea. Spent 15 years as a foreign correspondent covering various civil wars in Africa. He was posted to Moscow as bureau chief in the … Continue reading →
- The Subscription Project – Or A Paywall By Any Other Name February 4, 2013Paywall. Even the name is debated so contentious is this subject in the news industry. The Pros and Cons of some form of online paid access for newspaper websites have been argued in such extremes that nuance and accuracy have … Continue reading →
- Another Tough Step September 5, 2012Folks, Today Digital First Media announced Journal Register Company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will seek to implement a prompt sale. We expect the auction and sale process to take about 90 days, and I am pleased to … Continue reading →
- In Defense of the Times-Picayune July 11, 2012Stop me if you’ve heard this one. An old and distinguished business in New Orleans has seen more than half of its revenue disappear in five years and has decided to change how it conducts business – before it goes … Continue reading →
- Not Your Grandpa’s Old Newspaper Company June 11, 2012We are looking for people who want to transform the newspaper industry. We’re looking for people with ideas, energy and the guts to implement them. And we’re looking for people who would rather fail trying to succeed than play it … Continue reading →
- Peter Worthington: Patriot, Warrior and Journalist May 13, 2013
- Jeff Jarvis’ Buzz Machine
- Selling ads by time, not space May 16, 2013I just saw some mind-bending work Chartbeat is about to release about measuring the time users spend exposed to an ad online. As background, to quote Chartbeat CEO Tony Haile: “Chartbeat monitors activity by checking in with users every second and looking for signals (mouse movement, key strokes, etc) that show they are actively consuming [...]
- Apologies May 5, 2013Howard Kurtz screwed up, yes, but he also just showed an admirable example of accountability in apologizing on his CNN show Reliable Sources — saying that as a media critic he should be held to a higher standard of media trust — and then submitting to grilling by David Folkenflik of NPR and Dylan Byers [...]
- Advice May 3, 2013I didn’t know until this week’s Howard Kurtz kerfuffles that I was even listed as a member of the advisory board to his Daily Download. I did indeed give some advice to Kurtz and Lauren Ashburn a few years ago, before the site’s launch, in a half-hour phone call as I headed to JFK one [...]
- And now the news: Here’s what we *don’t* know at this hour… April 22, 2013I often tell my students that where they see a problem, they should find the opportunity. Well, we’ve been told over and over this weekend that we had a big problem with misinformation after the Boston Marathon bombing. Breaking news, haven’t you heard, is broken. So I see an opportunity, a big journalistic opportunity. I [...]
- A media attack April 16, 2013The attack on the Boston Marathon was designed to maximize media coverage: a popular event with cameras everywhere and a narrative that will be sure to follow about innocent enjoyment henceforth ruined by danger. For years, we’ve been told to fear this: an attack on a football game or at Disneyland or in a mall, [...]
- Selling ads by time, not space May 16, 2013
- Jay Rosen’s Press Think
- Jon Karl got played by a confidential source and now ABC News has a big Benghazi problem May 18, 2013“His colleagues at other news organizations know it. His friends at the network, were they real friends, would try to talk him out of this disastrous state of denial.” I am going to be brief here because for anyone closely following the story of the Benghazi talking points these facts are well known. And if [...]
- Designs for a Networked Beat May 13, 2013“When the users know more than the journalists, what are good journalists supposed to do?” These are lecture notes and links from my presentation to the editors of Quartz, May 13, 2013. The ideas that I share with you tonight originate in a personal obsession of mine that is now 14 years old. It dates [...]
- Some shifts in power visible in journalism today February 18, 2013“To some degree they have achieved what Tim Russert of NBC News had when he was host of Meet the Press. Sitting down for an interview with Swisher and Mossberg is a thing you do to show that you are a serious player…” Quick: How many shifts in power can you spot in this one [...]
- Look, you’re right, okay? But you’re also wrong. February 3, 2013A post that arises from a certain image I have of disaffected newsroom “traditionalists,” who look upon changes in journalism since the rise of the web with fear and loathing. It is not addressed to particular people but to a climate of mind I’ve encountered a lot in blogging about all this since 2003. Look, [...]
- “Even about your Lie of the Year there is doubt.” January 27, 2013Romney’s chief strategist Stu Stevens is trying to re-litigate a campaign ad suggesting that Jeep was shipping factory jobs to China. Why? I speculate. “Lie of the Year,” people in the establishment press called it. As bad as it gets. To which professional strategist Stu Stevens, head thinker for the Romney campaign in 2012, says: Nonsense, [...]
- Mounting costs for the default model of trust production in American newsrooms January 6, 2013The outlines of the new system are now coming into view. Accuracy and verification, fairness and intellectual honesty–traditional virtues for sure–join up with transparency, “show your work,” the re-voicing of individual journalists, fact-checking, calling BS when needed and avoiding false balance. For about 20 years (yikes!) I have been trying to move Ameri […]
- Loyalty and obsession are intimates: Andrew Sullivan goes independent January 3, 2013“We, the journalists, have part of what it takes to create an informative and exciting site. You, the users, have the other part.” Yesterday, Andrew Sullivan announced that he’s parting ways with the Daily Beast and taking his blog, The Daily Dish, independent. Truly independent: no advertisers! (Though he hasn’t ruled that out for the [...]
- The vanishing moderator: Jim Lehrer answers your questions about his part in the first debate October 11, 2012“I was not there to question people. I was there to allow the candidates to question each other.” Yeah, we saw that, Jim. Will Martha Raddatz of ABC News take the same approach in tonight’s Vice Presidential debate? Warning! This is a synthetic product. All the answers are Jim Lehrer’s words quoted verbatim. Click on [...]
- The clash of absolutes and the on-air fact check September 18, 2012Soledad O’Brien makes political television slightly realer-er when she comes ready to fight on air for a documented fact. Yes, I have a clip to show you. The fact checkers in the press have spoken on a key Republican Party claim: that President Obama has gone around the world “apologizing for America.” Here are the speeches [...]
- #presspushback August 31, 2012“Professional journalists, whose self-image starts with: ‘We’re a check on…’ had to decide what to do about the truck that just ran their checkpoint, carrying the brain trust of the Romney campaign, laughing at how easy it all was.” This week, one of the presidential campaigns said: “We defy the fact checkers. Your move, journalists.” [...]
- Jon Karl got played by a confidential source and now ABC News has a big Benghazi problem May 18, 2013
Category Archives: Corrections
Washington Post shows it values accuracy, audience engagement in step away from ‘fortress journalism’
The Washington Post made a huge statement yesterday about the accuracy of its reporting, engaging with its audience and building a stronger relationship of trust with its readers. A link to this page – asking readers and sources to bring … Continue reading
A reporter’s guide to corrections
Here’s the internal protocol we have written for reporters at my newspaper for handling corrections. What would you change/add? Craig Newmark, founder of “Craig’s List,” has argued that “trust is the new black.” News outlets that emphasize accuracy, fact checking … Continue reading
Posted in Corrections, Fact Check
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Why our Fact Check program is a crucial step away from traditional print media thinking
My column in The Register Citizen this week providing an update on the “Fact Check” program got lots of attention, thanks to John Paton, Jay Rosen, Jeff Jarvis, Craig Newmark and others. This is a very simple concept that started with … Continue reading
Posted in Corrections, Fact Check
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