Audio interviews - by Patrick Thornton on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 22:51 - 3 Comments
Podcast: Fischer on leaving journalism and lessons learned from beatblogging
Another one of our favorite beatbloggers — and one of the most innovative journalists around — is signing off.
Kent Fischer is leaving journalism at the end of the month. It’s not that Fischer doesn’t enjoy journalism, it’s just that journalism — especially newspapers — are having a tough time supporting journalists. His employer, The Dallas Morning News, just announced another round of layoffs and pay cuts.
Fischer isn’t the first start beatblogger to leave journalism recently. One of our other favorite beatbloggers, Ed Silverman, left newspapers last year. His former employer, The Star-Ledger, may not survive the year.
Fischer wrote me in an email:
The blog has a shitload of fun. It’s what keeps me coming in each morning. It was a blast to learn, and I think I only recently discovered what a good beat reporter and an engaged community can produce. I’m saddened that I won’t be around to push it to the limit.
But the news business no longer provides stability or financial security. If I was young and single and didn’t have two kids under 3 and no mortgage … I’d probably stick around to see how this all ends. But I got all those things and more. So, I’m out, effective April 24.
Fischer wrote on his blog:
This blog has been a career highlight for me. When my editor first approached me with the idea of building an online community around DISD … well, let’s say I was skeptical. You all proved me wrong. I grew to look forward each morning to compiling the Daily Dish, to experimenting with this new form of journalism, to an engaging online conversation. I awaited your comments — Ray’s thoughtfulness, Aloysius’ sharp wit, Cheeto’s grounded-in-reality point of view and all the smart newcomers (like Ann M) that we seem to attract every day.
The DISD Blog revolutionized education reporting in the Dallas area, and Fischer’s readers responded with an outpouring of gratitude when they found out he was leaving. Here are some of those comments:
Posted by donnal @ 10:40 AM Fri, Apr 10, 2009Thank you Kent. Between you and Tawnell, you’ve given a forum for teachers to vent and offer feedback and insight. You’ve definitely informed the public on a daily watch of good things along with the bad that happens in DISD. Most important to me, you helped parents and taxpayers better understand what’s happening in the schools and how our money is spent/misused; however it applies. I know I’ve gained a lot of info and appreciation in a very short time reading this blog.
Good luck with your new job.
You will definitely be missed! This is such a rough time for newspapers that your departure doesn’t really surprise me, but it is a loss. Best wishes to you in your new job, which does sound like an exciting adventure for you. One door closes, another opens!
P.S. Go Red Sox! (1-2 to start the season, eek)
Kent,
I’ve said this privately to you and now I say it publicly too: While I obviously didn’t love everything you did, I respected it and respect you as well. The Dallas Independent School District is better because of your efforts. You helped clean up some areas that needed it. While that wasn’t always comfortable, it was important.
I wish you and your family the very best in the future.
Sincerely,
Jon DahlanderHappy Trails, Kent.
You have spread sunshine all over the place!
Thanks to you, we’ve all learned a lot, sighed a lot, laughed a lot, and screamed a lot. All the best!Tawnell, keep the lights on!
Below you’ll find my final podcast with Fischer, an exit interview of sorts. Fischer discusses what he learned from beatblogging, what went well, what could have gone better, what he would have done if he stuck around longer and more. Fischer also discusses the state of the news industry.
It’s sad to see Fischer go. He did a lot of innovating, which I went over in this post from early today. But he left a lot of nuggets of wisdom in our final talk. Listen to it; it’s worth your time.
Click here to stream the interview. Or download the MP3.
Subscribe to BeatBlogging.Org via RSS.
3 Comments
Kent Fischer, Dallas Morning News
Wanted to follow up on a point I made about 2/3 of the way into my interview with Pat, when I stated that I could count “on one hand” the number of times and editor offered to repurpose/repackage news on my blog for the paper. In retrospect, that was not a fair statement.
When we first started out with the beatblog, it was true that editors just handed down mandates to turn blog posts into stories. But over the last several months that has changed. Both of my most-recent editors have been good at offering up ideas and suggestions on how to repackage the blog material for print. And lately, my newest editor has taken to doing some of the rewriting.
It wasn’t fair for me to state that it doesn’t happen, because it does, and with greater frequency lately.
Sandy
The current situation is so depressing. I just finished reading a interview series on the future of journalism, that included the CSM editor, and its heart breaking. Yemma was talking about why csm went digital, they one journalist who was a former St. Petersburg Times reporter who got laid off, but BUILT the citizen journalism section the st. pete website…..I feel like crying. Highly recommend read:
http://www.ourblook.com/The-Media/The-Future-of-Journalism.html
Are newspaper just guessing on what to do? | The Journalism Iconoclast
[...] Fischer told me that about a year ago newsroom managers at The Dallas Morning News approached reporters looking for volunteers to learn to shoot [...]
Leave a Reply
