Hiring for Readership
By Joshunda Sanders

You might grimace at the gimmicky Entertainment Weekly or the domestic Budget Living magazines. But if you’re a features editor at a newspaper, chances are those publications have an important thing going for them that yours doesn’t: more readers.

During the "Hiring for Readership" seminar at AASFE’s 58th annual convention, Stacy Lynch, director of innovations at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, presented studies offering some grim statistics for the future of newspapers if dailies don’t drastically change the way they tell stories.

One study found that people spend 319 minutes in a day watching TV but just 17 minutes with a daily newspaper. There was also evidence that consumers tend to absorb information while multitasking -- reading the paper while surfing the Internet and listening to the radio.

The result is that newspapers need to learn how to keep readers’ attention without adding more words to their pages. “There is an anti-reading bug out there," Lynch said. "Consistently, people respond to alternative approaches to stories -- short, fast and visual."

To prepare for a future that involves different storytelling techniques, Lynch urged editors to learn how to hire employees with a set of creative traits employers traditionally overlook. "A lot of the skills we need are not just sitting out there," she said. "A lot of it is spotting people who can grow into the positions we need."

Every hire should have his or her eye on the bottom line, not a Pulitzer Prize, for example. Journalists should be creative, flexible and willing to do a lot of work to make their newspaper better -- without the immediate gratification of a byline.

The optimal candidate is enthusiastic and open, even if they are not the quickest producers. Speed, subject knowledge and technical skills can all be taught. Instead of asking standard questions about the candidate, editors should compile a creativity test, along with critique questions that will allow prospective employers to find out the values of the person seeking the job.

Gretchen Day Bryant, lifestyle editor at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, said that the workshop confirmed some of her thoughts about finding multi-talented people who think visually. "We have to value people who will do the big think piece but will also take the same information and write it smaller for a broader readership."

Joshunda Sanders is a features reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle and a 2004 AASFE fellow.

TIPS ON HIRING FROM STACY LYNCH

Key skills in a prospective hire are: an ability to think visually and use alternative story forms to communicate information; willingness to try new things; an ability to write short, very short; and a collaborative working style.

The same criteria can be used in performance evaluations. Goals you set should reflect these priorities, and evaluations should do likewise. People who can’t start making these techniques part of their daily routine should think seriously about what their future is in newspapers. The most creative and smart journalists generally see the value and embrace these techniques.

We need to develop ways to reinforce this kind of work more regularly because it has not achieved industry-wide recognition. We need to find rewards that these folks value (food is good, parties may be better, recognition in company-wide awards may work, it depends on the group).

We may need to come up with some new kinds of positions that formally integrate visuals and writing. This isn’t about generating graphics to go with stories. It’s about using charts, grids, photos and cut lines to convey the bulk of the information.