Let's not forget why we're in this...

Here's my favorite paragraph from an column called "How To Get Ahead in the New Media Newsroom, Circa 2006" by Steve Outing:

What seems to be becoming the norm in newsrooms these days is that a growing group of reporters, photographers and editors are now working in jobs where there's a wide variety of tasks to be done each day: feeding the newspaper's Web site; writing for blogs and interacting with blog readers; gathering audio for the website and/or radio partners; recording video clips; participating in online chats and discussion forums ... Oh, and writing for the newspaper's print edition.

I'll be the first person to stand up and advocate for journalists stepping up to the technological bat and taking a swing at some new media device that they hadn't before. I always commend the old school for either trying, or letting someone else try their hands at blogging, filming, audio recording or anything along those line. New technology, to put it bluntly, freaking rules! I love it to death, but as I sat down to read this Sunday's newspaper from a nearby but here unnamed metropolis, I couldn't help but balk over a few lackluster articles that left me with far too many questions.

I was impressed at first that the newspaper had taken on a little more daring and modern front page design on the major story. The front page boasted not one, not two but six photos related to the story, each numbered with a corresponding extended caption on the side. Again I say, kudos. I love seeing this kind of thinking outside the box both online and in print. But as I skimmed through the A section, new ideas aside I kept running into articles that did not cover enough of the story.

I shouldn't end the story wondering why in a 20 inch article covering a controversial local issue that the reporter only quoted one source. I shouldn't start a story thinking to myself, "That lead just doesn't make any sense."

I'm not trying to be snobby. I'm willing to accept that there are good days and bad days at the paper. But it highlighted one thing for me that's important. All the thinking-outside-the-box in the world can't replace good reporting. Outing ends his quote above saying "...oh, and writing for the newspaper's print edition."

It's a joke, but I think this makes an important point that we shouldn't forget our first priority as we add all the fancy bells and whistles to our news. Outing lists a number of good journalists, such as Frank Cerabino and Leslie Streeter, but they didn't get where they are now by writing a cool blog.

Over here at the University of Oregon we have it beaten into our head regularly that nothing replaces good hit-the-ground-running reporting. Have a computer, crunch numbers in Excell, blog, record, post and wiki your heart out, but make it worth reading first. Bells and whistles don't replace good content.