Q & A with an NABJ member

I received a passionate e-mail from an nabj member that asked some very good questions. I've already answered them privately but I felt these same questions should be asked of any NABJ member running for an office this year. So, I've decided to share my answers to that member's questions. I apologize for the long answers in advance.

Q #1: The state of the journalism business is such that if you know only one thing, you're behind the eight-ball. What kinds of things would you champion within NABJ to help members, especially student members, those in small-to-medium news markets, and the unemployed, get the training they need to carve out a permanent place within the business? Would that training including training to become entrepreneurs within the business?

My answer to Q #1: 1. Think web first. That's the first thing I would tell any student member now and any journalist currently in the business or that was recently laid off. The web is the new way of journalism and you should know as much about the web as possible because it will affect your career and most likely your paycheck. When I say web, what am I talking about?

1) Blogs. Know the popular blog software and know how to use and navigate it. Just about every reporter is asked to blog these days and you should already know what a blog is before your employer asks you to do it. I'm experienced with Blogger and Word Press. But there is also...Squarespace, Typepad and a few others. I will eventually learn them all. The current buzz is around Twitter and I will get on that bandwagon very soon. 2) Know how to shoot and edit video. I can shoot video but I can't edit video. Employers use the word "multimedia journalist" now and that term usually incorporates shooting and editing video.The shooting video part is the easiest of the two but the editing part will make you more valuable to your employer and more marketable if you are searching for work. Final Cut Pro is the only video editing software that I've heard about but I know there are others. I'm no expert at using it but that will change in the future. 3) Know how to take and edit photos. I can use a zoom camera and a digital camera with no problem. I can't edit photos though. I know how to crop and resize but anything beyond that I would have to ask the photographers or photo editors at my job. I know Adobe Photoshop is a popular photo editing software but there are many others. 4) HTML. If you really want to get serious about the web than learning html coding is the way to go. I'm no expert at html coding but if you know html coding and can create and design websites, you can work for anyone and probably name your price as far as a salary goes.

I would strongly recommend any student or journalist seek out opportunities to learn this skill either at their school or within their place of employment or at a local community college or through any service that NABJ offers. With these skills and a creative idea, you can start your own online magazine like cousins Ashley Anthony and Nicole Galbreath have done with http://www.havengirls.com/. I will fully support any program (like the NABJ Media Institute) or training session (like the NABJ Region 1 Conference: Online Tool for Digital Journalists, Part 2") that incorporates the aforementioned skills. http://www.nabj.org/about/regions/region1/story/09conf.php. I will be in NYC on May 30 for the NABJ Region 1 Conference to learn more about Photoshop and Final Cut pro and I will also talk with NABJ members about running for NABJ secretary.


Q#2: I don't know if I'm going to be able to attend this year's convention because the folks at my employer aren't paying to send me. Although the prices for rooms, airfare, and entertainment are lower than they have been in other NABJ cities, they're still too high for someone who's check barely stretches far enough to pay rent and utilities. What will you do to begin the "we might need to think a little more about our members' fiscal health" conversation within NABJ? And as a follow-up question, what will you do to finally convince the folks on the board that having the convention be the sole source of our operating budget is an untenable business model that can't be sustained?

My answer to Q #2: That's a very good question. I've paid my own way to the NABJ convention in 2001, 2002, 2005-2007 and the Unity Convention in 2008. I didn't attend in 2003 or to the UNITY convention in 2004 because I just started new jobs that year. In 2002 while I was still a student member on a small budget, I paid the registration fee for three students at Northeastern University that couldn't afford it. I wanted them there and dug deep into my pocket to make sure they could experience an NABJ Convention. I know the sacrifice that NABJ members make every year because I'm one of them and when it comes to cost I'm always mindful of that aspect. I thought the NABJ pre-registration deadline should be extended anywhere between 2 weeks to a month from the original April 1 deadline and the NABJ board voted to extend it 2 weeks. I'm not in favor of raising convention prices or membership dues anymore than the 2009 prices. To my knowledge, we don't make any money or very little off our website, which baffles me as I type this response. Our website, in a web-based world, should be a better source of income to NABJ. Should we have advertising on our website? Yeah. What type of ads and where they will be placed...would require some more thought. I'm not sure what we charge for jobs in our NABJobs Online section (and that probably needs a better placement on our website anyways) but maybe offer prospective employers a package deal that we'll feature their job in a prominent spot on the website for a slightly higher fee. Do we have a membership referral service? If not, for every new membership (someone that has never been an NABJ member) that a current nabj member solicts on behalf of NABJ, I say offer a $10 discount to that current member's renewal the following year. This would probably only be done online. In regards to the convention model as our source of income, I don't know what the actual percentage is but I know it is a good amount. We can't go cold turkey and not use the convention as a primary source of income because 1) we can't generate that type of cash the convention brings in right now from any other source and 2) media companies have cut back on what they can/will spend to come to our convention or support our initiatives. 3) We can be better at saving money, spending money and raising money (like the few ideas I proposed above). As the deputy chair of the membership committee, I've proposed an idea that we create a marketing video something in the 2-3 minute range that can be sent as a DVD or even through e-mail on what it is like to be an NABJ member and attend one of our conventions or regional conferences. I think the video/e-mail should be sent to any college or university that we get a "new student nabj membership." My thinking if there is one...there has to be more. I think the video/e-mail should be sent to any employer that we get a "new professional nabj membership" Once again, my thinking is if there is one...there has to be more.

Q # 3: As a former chapter president, the one thing I've learned is that nothing radicalizes people who have been complacent and tolerating in their jobs more than a layoff notice. In the past, NABJ has been, to put it kindly, tentative when it comes to advocating for the needs of black journalists. Give me an instance in which you have had to serve as an advocate for black journalists, how you handled that incident, and what the final result was.

My answer to Q# 3: I've never been in that position and that's a hypothetical that I can't really answer without a specific case. In my opinion, "advocating for the needs of black journalists" should be one of the main responsibilities of the NABJ president and I'm not running for that office. I'm focused on running for NABJ secretary.

Q#4: What is your position on the suggestion made on the NABJ listserve that members begin pooling their own talents and creating a self-sustaining media entity that provides our members with work and could possibly serve as a means of providing exposure to members who are trying to take their talents to the next level? What would such an entity look like to you and how would you suggest it be marketed?

My answer to Q#4: If you mean creating our own newspapers and magazines. I'm all for that. Although I think our own blogs, web-version of newspapers or magazines are a more practical way to go. I don't know how feasible creating your own television/radio broadcast would be but I've seen examples of broadcast streaming. We are in a web based world and we should be thinking web first...every time. I would be in favor of an NABJ Journal story on members that start their own companies. I would be in favor of highlighting that on our website too.

P.S. I'm not saying I have all the answers but I'm saying I'm willing to think outside the box to get to a better solution.