Maynard Institute Editing Program Blog

What I’m writing this morning is less about the Maynard editing program and more about what’s gone on since the nine of us have been in Reno.

It’s safe to say, despite how tough it is right now for journalists, the vast majority of editors and speakers we have had the privilege of working with over the past five weeks have been, at worst, proactive in their thinking and, at best, optimistic when it comes to surviving what looks like the disintegration of American newspapers.

But June was a rough month. There was the bloodletting at McClatchy, the cuts at the Boston Herald, proposed pay cuts at the Boston Globe and cuts at Tribune newspapers in Hartford and Baltimore. That’s been followed by announced cuts at the L.A. Times in the early days of July. It’s tough to ignore.

I was on the Maynard Web site Thursday, reading Richard Prince’s Journal-isms. His column discussed the buyouts and layoffs, etc., and the NABJ’s open letter to the industry. But tucked inside the column was this news nugget about someone I’ve met before.

Tonnya Kennedy Kohn, managing editor of the State in Columbia, S.C., told Journal-isms on Thursday that she is taking a buyout and intends to go to the University of South Carolina Law School in the fall. Thursday is her last day at the paper.

Kennedy Kohn, 42, has been managing editor for five years, and is among 11 journalists leaving the McClatchy-owned paper. The newspaper offered buyout packages to the newsroom.

Two summers ago, I interviewed for a position on the sports desk at The State, the largest newspaper in S.C., and, as a result, spent roughly an hour in conversation with Kennedy Kohn during the process. And I was impressed.

She questioned me about my experience, my background and my opinions on some things, and I learned as much about how things were done in Columbia as I could and, along the way, found out about how she had journeyed from a job as a reporter (in Nashville, Tenn., I believe) to managing editor at The State.

It was one of those interviews where, even though I didn’t get the job, I felt like I was definitely taking something positive from it.

When I returned home, I told my wife that I had been impressed by Kennedy Kohn and felt like maybe she had something that I personally hadn’t been around in my short career.

Outside of that hour, I know nothing else about Kennedy Kohn and it’s a safe bet she doesn’t remember me. For all I know, maybe she was looking to get out of the newspaper business. But what I do know is that I never would have guessed that she would one of the 11 to move on from The State.

Maybe Kennedy Kohn moving on says as much about the state of this industry as the buyouts and layoffs.

But I’d like to hope not.

- Mike McCombs

In my backpack or pocket at all times is a small moleskin notebook I use to make note of whatever may come to my mind. It’s black leather, and on one side it’s adorned with a sticker that reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

I bought that sticker a number of years ago at a store in Athens, Ga., called the Junkman’s Daughter’s Brother. I thought then, and still do now, that the First Amendment is the most basic of the amendments. But I’ll admit, while the First Amendment was and is important to me, my knowledge concerning that amendment, specifically the freedom of the press, wasn’t very deep.

On June 9, Warren Lerude, a professor here at the University of Nevada, Reno, spoke to us about the First Amendment and libel for a couple of hours in the morning. I don’t know how everybody else in the group felt, but I could have listened to him for the rest of the day. I was locked in.

I didn’t go to journalism school but instead graduated college with a degree in history, my initial intention to be a high school teacher. I happened into this profession on accident, thanks to a desire to write for my student newspaper. I love history and don’t regret the path I took. But as a result, I never took a First Amendment and/or libel class, so the lessons I learned during the two hours Professor Lerude spent with us were all new to me, and I loved it.

About a week after he spoke to us, I went to Professor Lerude’s office during a break in class. I was hoping he could suggest a good book on the First Amendment and libel so that I might catch up on what I had missed out on. He did me one better. He didn’t suggest a book. He gave me one. He didn’t stop there. He also gave me a copy of a speech he was working on for a presentation next month. He didn’t think twice, he just gave.

And really, that’s what all of our faculty have done. Some for just hours, some for days, some for weeks. They’ve given us their time, their knowledge, their experience and their insight. And they’ve all done it while being supportive and in no way condescending. And they’ve done it in a very uncertain time for our profession.

I don’t know if our faculty members are compensated in any way for participating in the program. I hope they are. But in any event, what they are really giving us is the opportunity to become better, more complete editors, … to make contacts that can last a lifetime … and to pay attention to detail at the same time we are seeing the big picture.

At the very least, from this experience, I believe I’ll take away more of a sense of purpose and a feeling of enthusiasm for what I do than I’ve had in the past. I plan to try and make that stick.

And I plan to read that book I was given.

- Mike McCombs

Hi, y’all!

In the first week, June 2-6, we had three guest faculty editors. Stephen Downes from the Honolulu Advertiser, Craig Matsuda from the LA Times and Michelle Johnson a multimedia journalism professor at Emerson College(?) in Boston.

Day 1, we hit the ground running. Stephen had us do an exercise in which each of us sketched out a dummy 1A page and used our new judgment to pick stories for those pages. Luckily, I requested pencils for the exercise. He then used his spare time to turn what we sketched into actual pages. I only made a few mistakes and one involved misjudging how much space a graphic took up.
Also on Monday, we did a editing skills assessment test.
Addie Rimmer, who’s over the program this year, says that this year’s program will be a bit different in that they’re focusing more on multimedia. We learned how to do slideshows and some basics in Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

 On Thursday we were split into groups and on Friday we had about six hours to put together a Web site with a slideshow and links for a story on how gas prices are affecting tourism in Reno. The teams shared a photog and reporter and Craig served as the city editor (I get the feeling he inserted a few error into the reporter’s story just to test our skills). It was a challenge and instead of taking the normal 90 mins for lunch, my team spent the time on the project… and I think it showed.

On Friday, during a Q&A with Craig, Michelle and Stephen, I got a few good strategies on how to deal with a certain “testy copy editor” on our desk. Seems difficult personalities exist in bigger newsrooms as well. I can’t reveal any more details because I’m under the “what is said in Reno, stays in Reno” code we’re using when we talk about situations at our respective newspapers.

-Chrissy Minor