Tom Grubisich: January 2009 archive
The challenge washingtonpost.com isn't meeting: How to connect the dots between words and action
January 14, 2009
[Editor's note: Tom Grubisich is a former Washington Post reporter and editor]The Washington Post does great journalism. Jonathan Krim, assistant managing editor/ local at washingtonpost.com, documents several examples in his response to my recent piece "Washington Post needs to do some structural work on its shaky new strategy." Except Krim mislabeled this journalism as a serious attempt at "deeper and broader [community] engagement." It isn't.
The best example that Krim cited – "Fixing D.C.'s Schools" – actually shows how the Post, particularly its website, remains stuck in this great paper's legacy of investigative journalism, where the investigators, who are word, not action, people, remain in total control. The series, put together by a team of 12 reporters, editors, videographers and others, was a devastating indictment of how the District public schools educate their students. But the articles, fine as they are, offer no avenues of help to District parents who have children in one of the worst public school systems in the country. More...
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Washington Post needs to do some structural work on its shaky new strategy
January 7, 2009
[Editor's note: Tom Grubisich is a former Washington Post reporter and editor]In her first major statement as publisher of the Washington Post, Katharine Weymouth late last year announced a seemingly Zen-inspired long-term strategy of three pillars. The pillar that caught my attention was the second:
"Providing utility, engagement, and convenience for our local readers."
"Engagement"! Weymouth gets it, I said to myself, the Post is going to build a 21st century community to stay relevant, and financially healthy.
But after reading her whole "The Road Forward" document, I think my optimism may be misplaced.
Weymouth details what the Post will do about utility ("make the paper and washingtonpost.com go-to places for local information") and convenience ("make it possible for [local consumers] to complete many... transactions on the site"). But nowhere does Weymouth expand on how the Post will promote engagement. More...
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