I do a lot of internal training/evangelising for fellow BBC journalists. I have changed my training quite dramatically over the last year. Journalists are all about the deadline. If it doesn’t help them meet the deadline, fill airtime, they really don’t want to hear about. To me, it’s short sighted, but they are a very sceptical bunch.

As for resources, it’s about priorities, and right now with revenues falling, experimentation seems to be the last thing the industry is doing. For newspapers in the US, they are asking serious questions about the way forward. But for broadcasters, it’s not about resources. It’s about priorities. Really. Let’s call a spade a spade. When you pay hundreds of dollars per satellite feed, it’s not about resources. Just a little redirect of their resources, and they would have a lot of X-projects.

Thanks for the encouragement and the comment.

k

I have never worked with a more rigid set of individuals than J-faculty, whether they come from print, bcast, or magazine. There are many of these folks who believe that if it wasn’t done “that way” when they were coming up, it must not only be wrong, but bad. It is sad to see the students’ enthusiasm for “x-projects” stifled by faculty who are so inflexible.

Some of the faculty get it, and our collaborations are slowly moving forward, but it is always such a battle to do something new. You would think there was something sacred, rather than democratic, about the 4th Estate.

Doing an “x-project” is always my dream. When I have marshall resources to do an “x-project” students get it, outsiders get it, but often it takes a couple years for my fellow journalist colleagues to have the “ah ha” moment.

What would be hurt if we collaborated on “news incubator” ideas? Perhaps their pride? Fear of not being in charge is so debilitating, and also so 20th century.

Keep up your work and speaking out about it. Change is inevitable but still difficult.