By Pam Johnson
I’m packing up my Poynter office for a new assignment. Physical files and books going into boxes are reminders of things done or discovered in a 35-year career in journalism – the last three at Poynter.
I will cart these reminders to the Missouri J-School that launched my career. (Somewhere in a box are my student journalist newspaper clips) There, I will direct the new Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. The boxes contain the physical representations of what shaped me. We all save such reminders.
By far, though, it’s the intangibles — the experiences, the learning, the people – that matter most. What were the lessons I learned? How did they shape my journalism, my role as a newsroom leader? What experiences had the greatest influence on values I held closely?
My newsroom years were full of the intangibles. Among the most valuable: waves of daily stories coming across the desk, the patience of a staff with a young, green editor, teamwork and leadership in the 90s that turned the Arizona Republic into a model of how to move a newspaper company forward. Plus three years years at Poynter.
I know I am fortunate to have had this time at Poynter, so I want to share my favorite lessons. They include:
- Experts are only as good as the questions they ask of others.
- Experts who ask good questions are even more effective if they then listen closely to the responses.
- Busy journalists must break that daily cycle regularly to reflect on what they are doing and why.
- Every individual matters.
- Ideas need nourishment – what’s first said often plants the seed of the eventual success.
I’ve also learned that:
- Teaching is not easy. Great teachers — like those at Poynter — just make it look that way.
- The next generation of leaders – many of whom come through Poynter — are passionate, fit and ready to lead the journalism if given the reins.
- Newsrooms can determine the future of journalism – the challenge is not to wring our hands but to act with determination and commitment, with energy and capacity to change, and with values well-defined.
Another intangible I’ve carried from Phoenix to St. Petersburg and now to Columbia, Mo., comes from someone I’ve never met, who doesn’t know I talk about him when his story fits the moment. This young man, Jesse Dailey, was a 19-year-old intern at the Freedom Forum Pacific Coast Center in 1999. What Jesse knew of the world, he learned largely from the internet.
That was one reason Beverly Kees, a former editor who directed many projects for the Freedom Forum, was interested in Jesse and his take on journalism. This passage from his internship report, “A World of News for the Young”, stays with me:
“The role of the journalist will be changed forever. Their positions atop the mount of information will be replaced with seats in the heart of the throng. It becomes necessary then for a journalist to begin to serve the public, instead of provide for it.”
I think of Jesse’s perspective as I head to the Missouri J-School and the Reynolds Institute. How is it that we journalists see ourselves? Where are we “sitting”? Atop the mountain? Among the throngs? Is Jesse correct? Do you have a better description of the future of our craft and ourselves?
What are your thoughts? I’m listening.
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Pam Johnson leaves Poynter this week and can be reached beginning Nov. 15 at johnsonpamela@missouri.edu Phone: 573-882-4998
