The new Walter Isaacson bio of Steve Jobs is probably something every publisher and editor in community journalism should read.
As Politico’s Playbook tip sheet pointed out this morning, the main message of the book is this: Know how to cut to the essence. Jobs was a master at focusing on a few things – the most important things. It’s a lesson we must learn in community journalism.
For years, we’ve focused as much on the medium as the message. I can still remember my mother’s reaction when I first told her I had decided to become a journalist, back in 1966. Her small-town Arkansas experience was exclusively with community newspapers, and she looked at me and asked a question I’ll never forget: “Does this mean you’ll have ink smudges on your hands for the rest of your life?”
She was serious.
For mom, what she knew of journalism was inextricably wrapped up in that ink-on-newsprint product. It never occurred to her that they could be separated.
That was 40 years ago, but that world could as well have been 200 years ago. Then, we called even the news by the name of the medium on which it was printed—the news was “the paper.”
And that worked for then. It started changing when news started arriving by radio, then by television, then on your computer, and now on your mobile devices. Steve Jobs started out as a computer guy, but he was one of the first to realize he wasn’t in the computer business – he was in the business of delivering information and entertainment … literally of bringing the world to your fingertips.
One of the stories in Isaacson’s book, according to Politico, is the story of when Apple execs were brainstorming the product that ultimately became the iDVD: Jobs “jumped up, grabbed a marker, and drew a simple rectangle on a whiteboard. ‘Here’s the new application. It’s just got one window. You drag your video into the window. Then you click the button that says “Burn.” That’s it. That’s what we are going to make.’”
Jobs knew what business he was in – and that computers were the means, not the end.
This ain’t our fathers’ community journalism. We do indeed publish a paper, and probably will for some time. But that’s not our business. Our business is news and information and entertainment. Our business is putting people in touch with their community, and doing it so well that we provide an excellent platform for advertisers to reach that audience of news and entertainment consumers. Our job is to be the go-to place to connect readers and viewers not only with events and news, but also with each other.
Our flagship is the newspaper. But that paper product must now work in tandem with our website and with our social media platform. Gone are the days when we thought only of getting something into the newspaper the next time it published. Have you seen the commercials where these guys are playing with their tablets at football tailgate and someone comes up with a late news flash, and they respond, “That’s so 27 seconds ago”?
That’s not our current reality in community journalism, but that mentality is soaking into our audience – especially our young audience, our future – every time they turn onto a TV set or look at Facebook on their iPhone.
We have to realize what Steve Jobs realized, what made him a visionary; we have to figure out what our real business is, and to be relentless about pursuing it.
It’s scary, but it’s our future.
And besides, our hands will be a lot cleaner.