Change is rarely joyful in journalism. We can anticipate that our work will change, even if we can’t predict what that change will entail. Many professions face change, and journalists are often, perhaps unfairly, considered to be particularly unadaptable.
Change can be stressful or cause anxiety, reflecting many of the most challenging aspects of working in the field. Who would want to lean into it?
However, for Stephanie Preece, Worcester News editor, change also presents an opportunity.
Worcester News is a local, daily Newsquest publication that leaned into hiring AI-assisted journalists for local news.
“Every newspaper editor knows that they are just a guardian for a short space of time, and all you can do is the best for that title,” said Preece, in an interview with The Guardian. “But to do that, you have to embrace change, you have to move with the world.”
“AI can’t be at the scene of a crash, in court, in a council meeting, it can’t visit a grieving family or look somebody in the eye and tell them that they’re lying. All it does is free up the reporters to do more of that.”
Confronted with the immense change reflected by generative artificial intelligence, Worcester News saw an opportunity to leverage the technology to improve the lives of its reporters and their audience. How can we create newsroom cultures that lean into constructive change, rather than away from it?
In a study led by Valérie Bélair-Gagnon, recently published in Journalism Practice, we examined this topic precisely.
In interviews with journalists from across the United States, an environment that has undergone extensive change, not only due to technology but also in its news environment, we asked journalists about what enabled their newsrooms to adapt.
We found that journalists were able to be more innovative when:
- The entire news team engaged the innovation; not just individually but as a community
- When journalists perceived they were valued as individuals and given a voice within their newsrooms
- And when their managerial environment was transparent.
In news teams that feel like a team, the culture often outlasts the jobs themselves: journalists said they remained connected with their teams long after the jobs had changed and the people had retired. As one multi-skilled broadcast journalist told us: “Any change that comes our way, we adapt together.”
Journalists felt they could develop an adaptable news culture when they felt able to be fully themselves in the newsroom. One print/digital journalist said he frequently revisited his employer’s mandate, which left him feeling empowered in his work: “My current directive, actually from management, is…we want you to be yourself. You should completely be yourself.”
Newsroom leadership often sets the tone for a news culture, and managing change is no different. One breaking news reporter told us that their leader was able to offer “a softening of tension or stronger communication pathways” to meet challenges.
The Financial Times faced an unenviable challenge in the mid-2010s: to transition a 130-year-old newspaper from a print-primary to a digital-first newsroom. The long-standing editor at the time, Lionel Barber, met the moment, in part, by being transparent with his staff in detailing their strategy. Journalists are journalists after all: they don’t just want to know the “what” but also the “why” and the “how.”
Reflecting on his 15-year legacy for the Press Gazette in 2020, Barber (pictured above making his farewell speech to staff) noted:
“Effective communication was my starting point as editor. I had to signal clearly what I was interested in: a focus on business and financial journalism with a global perspective….Starting in 2013, our 125th anniversary year, I sent two strategy biannual letters to staff setting out clearly what I expected in terms of change, with specific milestones.”
Manifesting change is never easy, but creating a healthier newsroom culture makes the change more manageable.
The full study: Joy, Media Innovation and Change in Journalism, is available to buy at Journalism Practice.
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