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Be it: The power of networking
Published on 08/01/08
by Zac Echola
To be a child with cancer in the 1970s meant almost certain death. Then, one day, some smart pediatric oncologists got together and said this won’t work. We can’t sit here as individuals and expect to solve this problem.
They formed an association to trade ideas, tell others what works, what doesn’t work.
They formed a network.
Now about 90% of children survive cancer.
Being newspapermen or women alone in this world trying to figure it out on our own will mean almost certain death for many of our products.
We can’t expect a single ‘a ha’ moment turn profits around, to regain readers and viewers and our communities. There probably isn’t a silver bullet.
I’m going to push this hard in the newsrooms I interact with this year. We need to get out there and join in the conversations. We need to trade ideas, not just with each other, but with the public at large.
The Networked Journalism Summit this year was a start. Poynter plans to launch online groups. There are plenty of existing media groups on Facebook. While there’s certainly a lot of noise, there’s some excellent conversations happening on twitter.
If you’re just reading media blogs you’re doing yourself a disservice. Quit lurking in the digital shadows. Start commenting. Join these networks, join the discussion. Start a blog. It doesn’t matter if you write obits or you own a large network of newspapers. The point is to trade ideas. The flow of ideas outweighs the network of people in it.
This year we shouldn’t simply talk about what we should do. We should talk about what we’re doing. Let’s get into heated debates with each other because it needs to happen. Let’s be honest when we fail and when we triumph.
The end. Or is it?
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Tags: do the right thing, social networks
Comments on The power of networking
2 Responses
You are correct sir « Media Judo
08/01/08
[...] all seriousness, his post on the power of a big mass of us thinking about this goes down well. We can’t let it be all [...]
WiredJournalists.com | Zac Echola
22/01/08
[...] Change, that nebulous buzzword we hear far too often lately, must take place at every level of organization. But change can only happen through action. The Wired Journalists network will show you methods of action. No prerequisites required. We will help you through every action. And we hope to all learn from each other. That’s the power of networking. [...]
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