The Kalb Report - Behind the Scenes at The New York Times

The New York Times, operating at the pinnacle of the media landscape for decades as one of the most widely read and respected media properties, now faces new pressures to compete, stay financially solvent, and retain its aura of excellence while operating in an ecosystem of decomposition and regrowth.

Marvin Kalb, the storied broadcast journalist who's been holding his forum on journalism - The Kalb Report - for 17 years, interviewed New York Times executive editor Bill Keller and Washington Bureau Chief Dean Baquet to reveal these changin' times at the Times.

Below are my excerpted notes from that interview at the National Press Club on Monday evening, January 31st (airing live on CSPAN).

Kalb asked Keller to expound on the NYT staff and their process:

The NYT has 1,100 employees in editorial, 400 are reporters. The DC bureau is their largest, with with 29 reporters and 49 total people.

How they choose the news:

10:00 am meeting to discuss tomorrow’s paper and website, which includes a dozen news heads.

Another 4:00 pm meeting takes place to flesh out the next day’s front page, with each desk pitching its best stories to compete for front page space. Keller explained it as a mix of real and ‘faux’ news stories.

The guiding premise?

They want the front page to feel urgent. Some days with no hard news, they prefer to place a feature on top rather than an incremental news story. But “news” doesn’t have to be an event. They used to run a greater number of smaller stories – a pastiche of 12-14 stories with fewer photos.

What is the overarching theme?

They focus on what well-informed citizens “need to know.” Kalb pressed that with less pages, that shouldn’t it be more imperative to deliver hard news? Keller sidestepped saying features, profiles, and snapshots of life in a community are just as important as hard ‘news’. Dean, the DC chief added “we were never comprehensive” when it came to all the news.

And what about competition?

Keller cited the usual suspects such as WSJ, the web, BBC, the Uk’s Guardian, the Telegraph, Washington Post, Daily Beast. And that they’re not just competing for readers, but also for talent and innovation. He cited Huffington Post as an instructive model in terms of engaging readership in discussions, and using social media to promote.

When questioned, Keller denied reporters had quotas for the number of hits their stories needed to generate. “We don’t pay them to promote….Its not 24/7, but 1440/7,” referring to minutes not hours/day they run on, and the challenge to file and post stories that are accurate and without mistakes. The web and print version, he emphasized, are edited with the same standards. The pace (and competing for a scoop) accentuates the dangers of mistakes.

News & Opinion

Now, the paper features more analysis and commentary than straight news, which Bill encourages. Objectivity is drilled into reporters, but they still bring their own prejudices. Today there’s more analysis today because that’s what readers want. The expectation of their audience to provide more than just bare facts…but rather put it into context. Analysis differs from opinion, like what one would find in a book review.

The Paywall and deriving income.

Keller said there’s many varieties of paywalls, and metered versions of sites and their content. They believe website users should pay something. Compared to the one million subscribers to the print edition, the web generates over 50 millions visitors per month. Paper and web are now integrated together, something they started 6 years ago. Reporters work more today, less time to reflect. “We’re not a wire service,” he added.

WikiLeaks

NYT was one of the 5 publications that was provided advance access to Wikileaks materials. Keller said he sees them as a source, not journalists. NYT does the heavy lifting of collecting, vetting, extracting, writing and engaging.

Temptation is to skip into the voice of a polemicist (to argue and opine). That can be done online, but not in print.  Their bloggers are not sanctioned to give opinions.

As for social media. He cited the example of this new era of engagement. In an indepth story on Russia, the Times harvested comments from Russian citizens online to add insight and context to the story.

The Era of experimentation.

What are they looking for in tomorrow’s journalists? People who think logically, are curious, have writing skills and come from variety of backgrounds not traditionally represented.