Newsroom news - staff meeting recap

Senior management outlined some updates and pending Spokesman-Review content changes, tried to fight industry gloom with journalistic values, and took questions - in the first major huddle meeting since December.

“You have a right to know what amounts to a long-term survival strategy for the newsroom,” said editor Steve Smith, who first apologized for working inside his office too much after winter 2007’s newsroom layoffs.

Here are some highlights from this afternoon’s meeting, some of which will affect readers, arranged by immediacy:

Senior presentation editor Geoff Pinnock on changes to S-R content and layout :
1. TXT will no longer be on Monday - Design is relocating that page to the full-color back page of the Sunday business section, starting next Sunday. Starting then, neither TXT nor Business will exist on Mondays.
2. Expect to see the front page of the Northwest section take on a “Destinations” feel, with activity stories about what to do with your family on the cheap
3. Spokane7 pages will be moved around a bit, to move certain content farther forward, to make more room for certain 7 subjects and as a consequence, less room for others.

Senior innovation editor Carla Savalli, on the S-R Radio initiative :
Savalli said the radio initiative provides the newsroom with three different benefits - 1. Shared revenue 2. the opportunity to promote S-R on the air 3. the opportunity to spread the journalistic infomojo and love to a relatively different audience. S-R radio is looking to expand to a one-hour program soon, with news and talk in some combination.

Editor Steve Smith on the state of the newsroom :
“The budget situation is beyond dismal,” but we’re lucky to have staff and resources, and the journalism we produce is still crucial to the community, Smith emphasized. S-R’s newsroom will not survive if it remains a single-platform print operation, Smith said. The focus now is to leverage news content across multiple platforms including web, mobile and radio - not necessarily based on immediate revenue but rather the potential for future revenue. Smith said to expect more experimentation and risk, and possible future partnerships with other news organizations (or platforms) to expand reach and lead to possible revenue growth.

Online director Ryan Pitts on the Web site redesign :
Redesign is going ahead of schedule. The new Web site will still be subscription-only (a note from Smith). There will be more ways, better ways, to browse for content on the Spokesman-Review site including maps and tagging and user profiles, and to answer reporter Paula Davenport’s question, the page will have a different ‘look and feel.’ New site will have a soft roll-out in late June/early July.

Managing editor Gary Graham on recent successes :
Graham provided a rundown- It’s been a more than decent year for news content despite downsizing, he said, including the addition of the radio initiative, expansion of the Voice to the West Plains, a revision of the ethics code, an aggressive Our Kids: Our Business campaign, and listed some notable enterprise work (stories developed by reporter contacts and research, and not by breaking news happenings), and watchdog work such as on Joseph Duncan’s trial and July 4 protest video.