Journalism thought leaders consider 2013

Effective leaders consider both present realities and future possibilities.

 

In this podcast Journalism.co.uk technology editor Sarah Marshall spoke to seven industry thought leaders from both sides of the Atlantic  - including both Journalism Leaders Programme director François Nel and recent alumnus Alison Gow, editor of the Daily Post - about their expectations of the types of devices that will be used to access news sites, ideas on sustainability, key social networks and platforms for newsgathering, engagement strategies – and the kind of people we might find in the newsroom of 2013.

Also contributing are: Aron Pilhofer, editor of interactive news, New York Times; John Barnes, managing director of digital and tech at Incisive Media and chair of the AOP (Association of Online Publishers);  Mark Little, founder and chief executive of social news agency Storyful;  Raju Narisetti, managing editor, WSJ Digital Network, Wall Street Journal;  Stephen Pinches, group product manager for FT.com.

 

Mastering Leadership: A Conversation with Business Day's Steve Matthewson

For those involved in the Journalism Leaders Programme, there has been much to celebrate in 2012.

Since the Leaders programme was established in 2006, we've engaged with hundreds of editors and senior journalists from many of the UK's leading media houses, including Johnston Press, Trinity Mirror, Guardian Media Group and Cumbrian Newspapers, as well as others around the world through a wide variety of activities - from non-academic workshops, conferences, seminars and training courses, to postgraduate certificates and diplomas.

But this December five talented editors from South Africa, Bulgaria and the UK became the first to earn the Master of Arts in Journalism Leadership award from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, home the UK's oldest journalism programme.

Steve Matthewson

Paddi Clay, Dilyan Damyanov,  Alison Gow, Laurice Taitz-Buntman and Steve Matthewson  (left) were the first ones to have pressed through to the end.

François Nel, the programme's founding director, wanted to find out about just why they invested in the experience. Here's what Steve Matthewson, Managing Editor: News, BDlive and Business Day in South Africa, had to say:

Traditionally, journalists have moved up the career ladder by learning all they can from the person on the rung above. Why did you choose to participate in the Journalism Leaders Programme?

Very simply, the sea changes that have occurred (are still occurring) in the traditional media space mean that conventional wisdom and institutional experience within media companies is less useful than it might have been 10, 20 years ago. There may be routines, approaches or philosophies that older, more experienced leaders may be able to share but because the business of media is changing so quickly and the role of professional journalists in society is shifting, such experience appears to be less relevant. In fact, to some extent, there are fewer "greybeards" around anyway so more of the learning would have to come from outside the newsroom.

Work-based experience seems to be about continuity; reproducing, perhaps more efficiently or in one's own style, the same products for which the previous generation was responsible.
The Journalism Leaders Programme forced me to think critically about the business itself on a much more existential level (that is, why do we do, what we do, at all).

Another key thing is that much journalism education is self-reinforcing whereas this programme consistently forced participants to look completely outside the industry for solutions and ideas.

Balancing the demands of editing a newspaper with the academic activities - residential weeks in Preston and applied projects - could not have been easy. What kept you going?

It was extremely demanding. However, the fact that the programme was a blend of practical application and high-level, theoretical thinking about leadership and strategy, meant I was able to feed back much of what I learnt directly back into my work during and after every module. That gave me personal satisfaction and also made up for the absence from work. My employer gave me all the backing I needed as well as time to complete my studies. Also, the support I received from my fellow JLP students throughout the programme and the informal support network we created was really helpful in completing the course.

The Journalism Leaders Programme offers non-academic routes for those who just want to attend residential sessions, as well as an academic route with exit points at postgraduate certificate, post graduate diploma and Master of Arts levels. Why did you keep going to the end – including writing a research dissertation?

On one level, it was the ambition to complete a proper post-graduate qualification which would have serious long-term value to my CV. I've done a number of short courses in leadership, newsroom management as well stated-based unit standards in assessment etc and, while empowering, these never had the same gravitas as a proper academic course.

On another level, I just enjoyed each module so much so having completed three I really wanted to do the next three because they covered other areas in which I was interested in. And having finished the modules, it just made sense to do the dissertation. The dissertation was the hardest bit though.

How did your company benefit from your participation?

Since I became a more confident, mature and thoughtful leader, Avusa (now Times Media) were able to - and did - promote me several times during the course of the programme. I took on much greater responsibility not just in terms of the number of people reporting to me or the size of the budget which I worked with, but I now work much more across traditional boundaries within the organisation and I am not just limited to an editorial role. I think I (and other editorial leaders) are of neccessity having to take on those roles anyway, but my participation in the JLP prepared me better for this new kind of leadership role. In addition, I would say the JLP was fairly cutting edge in exposing participants to key trends in the industry,  new technologies and the challenges of managing creative individuals in changing environments so having someone like me to launch and run new "stuff" I think has helped the organisation move forward.

How would you summarise your JLP experience?

Challenging, academically rigorous, well-structured, always current and absolutely relevant to my career.

• Earlier we also posted conversations with  Alison Gow , editor of the Daily Post in Wales, and Dilyan Damyanov,  Editorial Director of Information Services at AII Data Processing in Sofia. We plan to post conversations withthe other graduates over the coming weeks. 
• The first and only programme of its kind in the UK, the Journalism Leaders Programme continues to work with leading publishers from around the world, such as News International, to provide custom courses that help equip exceptional talent for leadership. For more information, contact François  Nel at FPNel @ uclan.ac.uk .

Mastering Leadership: A Conversation with Dilyan Damyanov

Today is a Red Letter Day for the Journalism Leaders Programme.

Five talented editors from South Africa, Bulgaria and the UK will be the first to earn the Master of Arts in Journalism Leadership award from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, home the UK's oldest journalism programme.

In the seven years since the Leaders programme was established, we've engaged with hundreds of editors and senior journalists from many of the UK's leading media houses, including Johnston Press, Trinity Mirror and  Guardian Media Group, as well as others from around the world through a wide variety of  activities - from non-academic workshops, conferences, seminars and training courses, to postgraduate certificates and diplomas.

Dilyan Damyanov

But Paddi Clay, Dilyan Damyanov (left),  Alison Gow, Laurice Taitz-Buntman and Steve Matthewson will be the first ones to have pressed through to the end.

François Nel, the programme's founding director, wanted to find out about just why they invested in the experience. Here's what Dilyan Damyanov, Editorial Director of Information Services at AII Data Processing in Sofia, had to say:

The media landscape in Bulgaria is very different from the UK, why did you choose to enrol in the Journalism Leaders Programme?

UCLan's Journalism Leaders programme was, and still is, one of a precious few academic programmes that teach strategic leadership in the ever changing media environment. Back when I enrolled, it was so novel and ahead of its time that there simply were no other options on the market, especially programmes that are flexible enough for a professional to be able to balance them with their work and social life. There is certainly nothing like it in my country and, to the best of my knowledge, it's a one-of-a-kind deal across Europe.

Unlike most academic courses, the JLP comprises a series of modules that can be taken in any order on a pay-as-you-go basis. What kept you coming back to Preston?

I kept coming back to Preston for two reasons. One was the opportunities presented by the programme to build a network and learn not only as part of the scheduled academic activities but also on the sidelines of the modules, in a fun and engaging setting. The second reason was that the dedication and passion of everyone involved with organising and teaching this programme always meant I had access to relevant, up-to-date, useful information and tools. Thank you!

How would you summarise your JLP experience?

The Journalism Leaders programme had a profound impact on how I see the media industry and how I approach strategic challenges. I met inspiring people, made great friends and had some of the most fun times of my life.

• Earlier we posted a conversation with Alison Gow,  editor of the Daily Post, and  plan to post conversations with each of the other graduates over the coming weeks. 
• The first and only programme of its kind in the UK, the Journalism Leaders Programme continues to work with leading publishers from around the world, such as News International, to provide custom courses that help equip exceptional talent for leadership. For more information, contact François  Nel at FPNel @ uclan.ac.uk .

Mastering Leadership: A conversation with Daily Post editor Alison Gow

Wednesday, 5 December 2013, is a milestone for the Journalism Leaders Programme.

It's been almost seven years since we welcomed the first cohort to Preston. Since then, we've engaged with hundreds of editors and senior journalists from around the world through a wide variety of  activities - from non-academic workshops, conferences, seminars and training courses, to postgraduate certificates and diplomas.

But the five editors from Bulgaria, South Africa and the UK who earn their Master of Arts in Journalism Leadership awards next week, will be the first cohort who have pressed through to the end.

We wanted to find out about just why they invested in the experience. Here's what Alison Gow, editor of the Daily Post in North  Wales, had to say:

Traditionally, journalists have moved up the career ladder by learning all they can from the person on the rung above. Why did you choose to participate in the Journalism Leaders Programme?
 

Daily Post editor Alison Gow

I joined the Leaders Programme in 2007 under a Trinity Mirror initiative, along with 12 other colleagues from the regional editorial teams. The course made me ask myself a lot of hard questions about my perceptions of journalism, storytelling, audience, management and - not least - where I wanted to go in my career. I also emerged with a post-graduate qualification, but I really felt that I wanted to be pushed further in my thinking, so when François [Nel, founding director of the programme] said there was an opportunity to continue, and work towards an MA, I knew I wanted to do it.

It's very easy to get complacent when you've been doing something for a long time. I like being out of my comfort zone and having what I might consider accepted norms challenged, but learning new things (including quite practical things, like financial planning) it also helped me frame and articulate my own ideas around Journalism. It was like having a tool-kit of practical and theoretical methods, and that has been invaluable.

Balancing the demands of editing a newspaper with the academic activities - residential weeks in Preston and applied projects - could not have been easy. What kept you going? 

Practically, there is a lot of support from tutors during the residential weeks and via distance learning, so that network was vital. I'm indebted to them all for their assistance. I also enjoyed a lot of the readings (less so the ones about budgeting...)

My course-mates were brilliant, funny and clever - I consider them my friends now, so that was a rewarding aspect. I also had great support from Alan Edmunds, my editor-in-chief while I was at Media Wales, who was unexpectedly cool with the idea of me heading off to Preston in work time to do academic 'stuff'.

But mostly I think what kept me going was that I enjoyed learning new things, sharing and getting feedback on ideas with likeminded people,learning from amazing guest lecturers, talking through industry disruption, innovation, people management - things that impact on us working in the Press every day.

 The Journalism Leaders Programme offers non-academic routes for those who just want to attend residential sessions, as well as an academic route with exit points at postgraduate certificate, post graduate diploma and Master of Arts levels. Why did you keep going to the end – including writing a research dissertation?

 I went straight into local newspapers from school, aged 18, and my last qualification was the NCE. So although that was right for me then, I had reached the stage where I wanted to learn more. I would never have had the discipline to do it on my own, but I also wouldn't have wanted a career break to achieve a qualification - the Leaders Programme was the perfect fit. The MA gave me a goal to aim for, and focused my attention on investigating something that really mattered to me as an editor - namely, how was the role changing, and what was it becoming.

How do you think your company benefitted from your participation?

 Without the original leaders course I would never have specialised in digital journalism, and I think the knowledge, enthusiasm and - probably - blinkered fixation on online storytelling I gained as a result of that - benefited TM.

Although I self-funded my MA aspect of the course, TM continued to support me in practical ways, and the benefit for the company is, I think, that I am a more effective leader and manager as a result. My studies helped me gain a better understanding of Journalism, innovation, industry disruption, strategy - and practical things such as project management, financial planning and marketing. It sounds simplistic but I interviewed a lot of editors for my dissertation research and the overwhelming feedback from them was that they wanted and needed more training and development to do their jobs more effectively.

What advice do you have for companies and individuals considering investing in further professional education?

It involves time, commitment, money and determination, but the rewards are immense.

I verbally signed up for the leaders course as I drove back from a job interview for an editorship - 2 weeks later I was in charge of my first newspaper and website, and on a study programme working towards an MA. It would have been easy to say I had too much on and back out, but there never is a good time, is there? If you feel it's important, you just have to jump.

Most of the people TM put forward for the first J-Leaders Programme back in 2007 have now significantly advanced their careers, either within the company or externally, and I don't think that's a coincidence.

Can you summarise your JLP experience?

Rewarding, exhausting, challenging, essential, fun. I laughed a lot, learned a lot, made good friends and got to know all the good pubs in Preston. Plus next Wednesday I graduate - something I would have thought completely beyond my grasp as an 18-year-old trainee journalist. It's been life-changing.

• Also graduating with MA degrees will be Paddi Clay, Dilyan Damyanov, Steve Matthewson and Laurice Taitz-Buntman. We plan to post conversations with each of them over the coming weeks. 
• The first and only programme of its kind in the UK, the Journalism Leaders Programme continues to work with leading publishers from around the world, such as News International, to provide custom courses that help equip exceptional talent for leadership. For more information, contact François  Nel at FPNel @ uclan.ac.uk .