If there is a constant in my presentations to journalists for five decades, it’s the subject of transformation.
I could find these words in my presentations going back to the late 1970s: Welcome change, learn new ways, enjoy the thrill of discovering and adding to your arsenal of experiences. Still, editors looked a bit puzzled when facing inevitable change.
Recently I found myself reviewing a copy of my book, Contemporary Newspaper Design (first edition, Prentice-Hall 1981). That book had three successful editions and was adopted for editing and design courses at universities across the world.
This first edition is in black and white and shows its age, but what has not aged is the advice to editors of that era:
“Survival is more like to result from a change in the attitude of editors and publishers about the role of the newspaper.”
That was advice for editors who worked in newsrooms that functioned in a vacuum, providing what they thought was news and insisting that if the promotion people could not sell it, that was their problem, and not that of the journalists,
Of course, in 1981, I was a man on a mission to alert editors to become more graphically aware:
“Not only do editors need to change their attitudes about the concept of news as applied to the newspaper, they also need to gain a greater sense of graphic awareness. Those editors who content that if the copy is superior and urgent it will command readership, no matter how it is presented must reconsider their position.”
Happily, many did, and by the third edition of Contemporary Newspaper Design, in 1993, we had witnessed an unparalleled graphic explosion, not just for newspapers, but also for billboards, logos, airline tickets and even personal checks.
It was newspapers that changed to become more visual, however.
Transformation took a long time, but it happened. It did when editors accepted the emergence of television as a far-reaching medium for news and entertainment and, therefore, developed content relevant to the changing lifestyles of young readers.
Reviewing all of this takes me back to a time when I was a young professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, and happy to be at the gates of a major revolution in the development of “design’ and “style” as two words that newspaper editors were beginning to accept.
My journey of transformation
Little did I know that I would have an entire career devoted mostly to bring the spirit of transformation to skeptical editors. It happened when color began to make its way into the pages of somber, black and white newspapers.
It was not easy to convince the teams of about 220 newspapers around the planet that, indeed, the world was in color, and there was a place for color images on the front page of a newspaper. Think adding color to The Wall Street Journal or Germany’s Die Zeit.
Indeed, readers welcome color images in their newspapers.
That leads us to what I do today, at age 78, still entering newsrooms like the cheerleader with a megaphone with the big letter T on it: Transformation.
Today, my workshops encourage editors to become mobile first journalists, and to write stories that are created to be consumed on mobile devices. Think scrolling and vertical movement. Incorporate video and audio as part of the visual assets of the story, as explained in my book The Story, a trilogy (Thane and Prose, 2019)
Then there is the need for Transformation in accepting Artificial Intelligence as a helpful tool, not a threat. I hope that my 2024 book AI: The Next Revolution in Content Creation (Thane and Prose) paves the way for such transformation.
It is not just journalists who often come late to the Transformation party. Jouranalism professors join them. It is human nature to continue to do what we know best and feel comfortable doing. For my fellow professors: there is great excitement when adding a layer of discovery to your vast experience, esoecially discovering new ways of practicing our craft along with the students.
We are more than four decades away from when Contemporary Newspaper Design first appeared. The spirit of transformation and the need for editors to embrace it is more important today than ever.
Our workshop deals with the two big revolutions facing editors
For me, it is imperative that editors approach content creation thinking in terms of mobile first.
Mobile first involves the type of transformation where all content is prepared thinking from small to large platform. Thinking small platform does not mean that the reporter conceptualizing a story for mobile consumption should not think BIG. So, plan from small to large, but think big in terms of the story content and the visual assets that go with it.
While mobile first is still elusive to so many newsrooms around the planet, here we are, in 2024, faced with an even bigger challenge not just knocking at our doors, but already IN: Artificial Intelligence.
Transformation and a change of mentality to face these challenges is the first step. Training and education to tackle them with a sense of focus and direction is essential.
That’s where our Garcia Media workshops come in
Our Garcia Media Mobile Storytelling workshops introduce your editorial team to the way we write, edit and design for mobile platforms. This one-day program includes a presentation and a hands-on workshop. We’ve added a new segment about AI for content creation.
Newsrooms around the planet have gone mobile-first after a Garcia Media workshop!
Our Garcia Media Mobile Storytelling workshops are proven to introduce your editorial team to the way we write, edit and design for mobile platforms. It is a one-day program that involves a presentation (where I summarize my Columbia University class content), and follow it with a hands on workshop.
For details, to customize, and to book: mario@garciamedia.com
Media predictions for 2024
Every year, Harvard University’s Nieman Lab publishes what selected media people predict for journalism in the following years. You can find my own prediction here;
https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/12/ai-takes-center-stage/
Start writing or type / to choose a block
How we use AI
Honored to be mentioned here:
https://www.newsroomrobots.com/p/how-10-news-industry-leaders-use
Order my AI book here:
https://thaneandprose.com/…/preorder-ai-what-to-expect…
Here is a chance to pre-order my new book about Artificial Intelligence and content creation. The first 25 copies sold will be signed! Order here:
https://thaneandprose.com/…/preorder-ai-what-to-expect…
Reviews for AI book:
Did you read The Story yet?
I urge you to consult my latest book, The Story, a trilogy full of tips and explanations about mobile storytelling, which represents the latest genre for journalists to explore. See information below:
The full trilogy of The Story now available–3 books to guide you through a mobile first strategy. Whether you’re a reporter, editor, designer, publisher, corporate communicator, The Story is for you! https://amazon
Volume 1: Transformation
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-story-volume-i/id1480169411
Volume Two: Storytelling
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-story-volume-ii/id1484581220
Volume Three: Design
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-story-volume-iii/id1497049918
Order the print edition of The Story, from Amazon, here:
TheMarioBlog post #3399