SAJA-DC: Coverage of "Navigating the Labyrinth" Conference

Some of Washington D.C.'s best-known journalists, including Leonard Downie, executive editor of The Washington Post (right), were among the speakers at SAJA's first ever day-long conference outside New York. In fact, within the first two hours, five Pulitzer Prize-winners had already shared their ideas with the audience of more than 130 journalists. The theme of the conference, which was hosted by the National Press Club: "Journalism in the Nation's Capital: Navigating the Labyrinth."

Below you will find text and/or audio clips from several of the sessions and you can see 80+ photos by Preston Merchant here. You can see a video story in Urdu/Hindi by VOA's Imran Siddiqui here (.mov file). Additional reports from the conference are coming soon. Lots of tips and story ideas, so do take a look.

• Opening Keynote: Len Downie, executive editor of The Washington Post, kicked off the conference with a conversation about the news industry's future, the 2008 elections and covering the war and national security.
  Read a report on the session by Shefali Kulkarni.
  Download the mp3 (31MB) and listen to the whole session.
  

• Unearthing the Big Story: A discussion of some of Washington's biggest stories of the last year, from warrantless wiretapping to congressional scandals, featuring ABC News senior producer Rhonda Schwartz, Jerry Kammer and Marcus Stern of Copley News Service, and Eric Lichtblau and James Risen of The New York Times. Moderated by Chitra Ragavan of US News & World Report
  Download the mp3 (41MB) and listen to the full session.


• The New Wave of New Media: John Harris, editor-in-chief of the brand-new The Politico (and former WP reporter), and Wall Street Journal deputy bureau chief Nikhil Deogun talk with Washington Post assistant managing editor Rajiv Chandrasekaran about blogging, online video and the challenges of feeding new platforms.
  Read a report on the session by Priyanka Dayal.
  Download the mp3 (38MB) and listen to the full session.

• Breaking into Washington Media: What does it take to make it in the nation's capital? Who will give you a shot when you are starting out? What are editors looking for in young journalists? Speakers: Dipka Bhambhani, Platts; Ed Foster-Simeon, USA TODAY; Amanda Long, Washington Business Journal; Amna Nawaz, NBC News. Moderator: Vandana Sinha, Washington Business Journal.
  Read a report on the session by Priyanka Dayal.
• South Asia's Imprint on Washington: Leading journalists representing South Asian and U.S. news outlets discuss how coverage of the region is evolving. Featuring Aziz Haniffa, India Abroad; Selig Harrison, Center for International Policy; Anwar Iqbal, Dawn;   Moderated by Patti Tripathi, Tripath Media.
  Download the mp3 (19MB) and listen to the full session. 

 

Don't forget: This year's SAJA Convention and Job Fair will take place over four days in New York City - July 12-15, 2007. Please mark your calendars and keep an eye on SAJA.org for details.

REPORT: A Conversation with Len Downie: Guiding a Multi-Platform Newsroom
By Shefali Kulkarni, SAJAforum Student Blogger
Download the mp3 (31MB) and listen to the whole session.

Len Downie admits he was once a skeptic about the Internet. The executive editor of The Washington Post says he was among the journalists who thought it would be an intrusion rather than a tool for the media.

Today, Downie talks up the strengths of a multi-platform newsroom complete with the Web, radio and television all weaving together with print to provide rapid news and information.

Since the Internet first emerged in the early 1990s, "everything has changed," he said at Saturday's conference with the South Asian Journalists Association at the National Press Club.

Downie addressed the Post's own news-delivery changes and how new forms of media are being used to cover politics and other major stories with audio, video, databases and breaking news from around the world.

The Post Web site is "constantly fresh all day long and ideally has our journalism on it rather than the same wire service stories you can see on any Web site," he said.

New media improves the quality of news, Downie said. Reporters are able to create video projects to accompany their stories. The Post's recent "Being A Black Man" series includes additional interviews and portions of the story that couldn't make it into the print edition of the paper.

Other expansions of the Washington Post Co. include El Tiempo Latino, a Spanish-language weekly newspaper, and Express, a daily commuter paper with a circulation of about 190,000 geared towards younger readers.

The audience probed Downie about crucial issues facing the media today -- job losses, interactions with the Bush administration and the use of confidential sources.

The Post has not revealed a confidential source in any legal proceedings, in part through negotiation with lawyers.  "You don't have to go to prison ... in order to not be divulging a confidential source in most cases," he said.

Transparency with readers is key to any discussion about the use of confidential sources, Downie said.

"This is a very, very important relationship for newsgathering," he said. "At the same time, we have a responsibility to use them responsibly. ... We need to help our readers understand as best we can why we're not naming a source."

- - -

REPORT: The New Wave of New Media: Print publications aim to expand their Web presence
By Priyanka Dayal, SAJAforum Student Blogger
Download the mp3 (38MB) and listen to the full session

As print publications struggle to reshape their business models, they're trying to use unique and enterprising material to draw readers to their own new Web products.

John Harris, editor in chief of The Politico, and Nikhil Deogun, deputy Washington bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, told audience members at Saturdays SAJA conference how both their publications are using the Internet to reach out to viewers in different ways than they've done before.

[John Harris shares an anecdote with Deogun and WP's Rajiv Chandrasekeran - and the audience - during the changing media panel.]

The Politico, a Washington-based print and online publication that debuted a few weeks ago, is targeted at people who work on Capitol Hill and junkies who just can't get enough politics, Harris said. The Journal is also a specialized publication, Deogun said, but its online audience spans more than 800,000 readers around the world.

Harris, who left The Washington Post after several years as a political reporter and editor to launch The Politico with another former Post colleague, said he made his career move because he wanted to be part of the conversation about "what's next for journalism."

The launch of The Politico created a buzz around Washington, not only because it would compete with established Hill publications like The Hill and Roll Call, but because it included a unique Web-based product. How do they decide when to post the content online or just publish it in print?

"We really don't brood about it that much," Harris said. "We do not organize ourselves around the print edition... and what time to post it online." Rather, they do whatever puts The Politico "in the conversation early and fast."

Markets can change very quickly, Harris said, so he wanted the The Politico to be part of both the print and web markets. "There simply isn't a model right now that could support itself only on the Web," he said. "There still is a lot of vitality in that [print] model."

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the Washington Post assistant managing editor who until recently directed its continuous news desk, said he accepted that position after his stint as the Post's Baghdad bureau chief because he wanted to play a role in the changing media industry.

Chandrasekaran, who moderated the session, suggested that updating news on the Web can be more tiring than turning out a print product each morning. "I don't think you're ever really done online," he said.

Although The Wall Street Journal charges readers for most of its Web content, Deogun said, "as long as we come up with new products, we should be OK."

Web users now have several options to read, see and hear only the news that interests them, but Deogun said the Journal makes its name by trying to bring readers new and interesting content that they may not have thought about.

"You can customize the news all you want," he said, "but great reporters and great editors will bring you the stories you never would have dreamed of."

- - -

REPORT: Breaking into Washington Media Requires Long Hours and Fresh Ideas
By Priyanka Dayal, SAJAforum Student Blogger

Being a reporter isn't what it used to be.  Writing about the day's events and filing a story on deadline aren't enough anymore, especially for reporters in Washington.

If young and budding journalists are serious about landing a job in Washington, they need to be thoughtful and enterprising, a group of editors and reporters told an advice-hungry audience at Saturday's SAJA conference at the National Press Club.

"What can you bring to the table that the paper doesn't have?" asked Ed Foster-Simeon, deputy managing editor of USA Today.

Foster-Simeon said reporters have to acknowledge that by the time readers pick up the newspaper in the morning, they already know the news. So to hold their interest, reporters must offer something new.

The way you enter the Washington media market depends largely on the publication you want to write for and the audience it serves, Foster-Simeon added.

The reporters and editors agreed that understanding convergence and developing an expertise are also essential for aspiring Washington journalists. Gone are the days of the newspaper business. Now it's the information business, and traditional print reporters need to learn how to tell stories in more than one dimension.

Instead of rolling your eyes at an editor who tells you to put your story on the Web, embrace the opportunity, said Amanda Long, assistant managing editor of the Washington Business Journal.

"Ideas open doors," said Long, who spent several years living off her own ideas by freelancing for publications such as The Chicago Tribune. As newsroom staffs shrink, there are more opportunities in freelance, she said.

Working for trade publications can be another door into the business, said Dipka Bhambhani, associate editor of Platts. Bhambhani said she became an expert in energy when she started working at Platts, a McGraw-Hill publication, and she hopes her expertise will attract future career opportunities.

But be prepared if you want to move to Washington, said Amna Nawaz, an NBC producer who recently moved to the capital from New York. She said people in Washington take their jobs very seriously, with their lives often revolving around their work.

Please post your thoughts below in the comments section.

Just some of the 80+ photos by Preston Merchant:

BLOOMBERG RECEPTION: Al Hunt, Washington managing editor,
hosted the evening reception.

END OF THE DAY: SAJAers at the evening reception.

AT REGISTRATION: Part of the team that put it all together.
From right: Vandana Sinha; Monika Mathur and Debbie Dey.

SOUTH ASIA'S FOOTPRINT IN DC: Madhulika Sikka, NPR's "Morning Edition;" Aziz Haniffa, India Abroad; Anwar Iqbal, Dawn; Selig Harrison, Center for International Policy; Patti Tripathi, Tripath Media.