The Pandemic Effect: How has COVID impacted your newsroom and our future as journalists?
Recently a colleague and I were asked to reflect on the impact COVID has had on our newsroom. The themes which came to mind? Safety and Adaptability. Remarkably both ideals led us to the same feeling; the pandemic has allowed us to do some of our best work for our local community.
Before I ask you to read further on the discoveries about my newsroom, I want to ask you, how has the pandemic impacted your work? I know it can be isolating, but it can also be challenging in the most invigorating sense of the word. Drop me a line at [email protected] and share your thoughts as I bet many of them will lead to further progression of the training and services we at RTDNA.org can provide.
Now on to my thoughts on the pandemic effect on my newsroom and our industry.
As a News Director, Safety is always at the forefront of your mind. Whether it is coverage of a hurricane, a blizzard, a crime scene, or a major community event, the first topic of discussion in my newsroom is how can we keep our crews safe? Boy, is that truer now than ever before! In Orlando, the message which was once, “if your scene is unsafe due to lightning, get to a safe place and then tell a manager where you’ve had to go”. The message has now evolved into “if there are too many people showing up or you feel as though you can’t cover from a safe distance, leave immediately, and then tell a manager you’ve left.” I am so proud of my team for taking these messages to heart and regularly acting and speaking up. As one of my team members put it to me, “it’s about my health, it’s about my teammate’s health, it’s about our subject’s health. I just don’t want to take risks like that.” I, for one, could not agree more.
Newsrooms and their ownership should use this moment in our history to ensure they are empowering individuals to safeguard themselves and more importantly to back them up when they must make difficult decisions. As leaders we owe it to our teams to support them. I tell my team regularly, “Rely on your gut, but then gut check with a manager.” Safety as well as ethical decisions are to be made as a team. Newsrooms falter when they allow just one of their members to fall. The newly renewed emphasis on safety in our newsroom is certainly one to be a silver-lining among such a troubled and tragic year.
Adaptability is the second value taking greater shape due to the pandemic, and it is certainly advancing our newsrooms. How many of our stations and ownership groups turned on a dime, evolving and innovating in mere days of the Pandemic’s initial impact? That very flexibility that we have shown on air and online permeated each department in my stations for certain, even allowing us to create new ways to balance work and life.
This pandemic has hit our families in ways we could have not imagined: at-risk children and parents isolated, home-schooling for children, FaceTime and Zoom visits with grandparents, friends, and other loved ones. Yet, through all of this we as journalists have WORKED FOR OUR COMMUNITIES. Vacant offices become small classrooms so journalists who are also moms or dads can WORK FOR OUR COMMUNITIES. Colleagues dealing with family illnesses stay home so as they CAN WORK FOR OUR COMMUNITIES. In other situations, without the spirit of innovation and drive to persevere and problem solve, some of us may have even had to leave jobs we love to tackle what the pandemic has wrought. But as journalists, WE ADAPT so WE CAN WORK FOR OUR COMMUNITIES.
That feeling of safety, the knowledge that we can adapt, in addition to the flexibility we have discovered has allowed us to concentrate on our mission: sharing the stories of our communities.
Right here, right now, we are doing our best work. And while some may lament and fear for the future of local news, I know this: if the passion, the commitment, and the innovative vision remains – we are on solid ground. Localism, true local journalism, leaves us strong and ready for whatever 2021 and beyond may bring. This is why I ask for your vote for Chair-Elect. It would be a privilege to lead RTDNA into the future using the many lessons of an unforgiving 2020.
On the pages of my website, AllisonMcGinley.com, I have tried to capture the essence of why I am the right candidate, but you may want to know more, and I want to hear from you. Again, drop me an e-mail at [email protected].