Success Leaves Clues

You've seen her on ESPN First Take, duking it out with the insufferable Skip Bayless. You've read her columns on ESPN.com, where she has distinguished herself as a no-nonsense reporter. Now you see Jemele Hill posing with me, your insufferable blog editor (I gave her no choice as I staked out the lobby like a crazed fan).

I attended a seminar this past weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida where Jemele spoke. She has quite a story--coming up from the streets of Detroit, moving up the newspaper ranks before landing at ESPN a few years ago. After listening to her speak and spending some time with her, one word keep creeping into my consciousness--genuine. As a journalist, I always admired her authenticity. Once you meet her and listen to her speak, that quality is no act--she's a real and down to earth in person as she comes across in her writing and on television. That's not an easy transistion, but it is a common thread amongst successful people.

The ability to not only be in touch with who you are--am I compassionate? Am I humble? Am I a fair?--but the talent to channel that sense of self outwardly is what attracts people to or away from you. In journalism it is essential to survival--being hated is preferred over indifference. So ask yourself this question- how well am I in touch with my own values? And how can I best share those values through my work?

If you are looking for a good example, just check out Jemele Hill's work on ESPN.

Brain Fuel

I'm writing from sunny, humid St. Petersburg, Florida where I am attending the Poynter Institute Sports Journalism Summit. Lots of heavy hitters down here--Jack McCallum, Pat Forde, Jamele Hill, Sally Jenkins, just to name a few. I'm excited about rubbing elbows with these stars of sports journalism. But I'm stoked (I apologize for the mid-90's slang reference, I'm writing in a hurry here) for another reason.

It's a concept known as "slight edge". It's why I flew in from Chicago and paid my own way to attend the seminar. The idea is that by spending 3 days absorbing the intellectual capital of those mentioned and others, I will pick up one or two innovative concepts I have never heard before. And those concepts--combined with implementation--will add a significant amount of revenue to my business. Successful people understand this. Unsuccessful people look at the "cost" and say they can't afford it.

I would encourage all of you to ask yourselves--what am I doing to fuel my brain? What seminars, conferences, speeches are you attending that will give you a "slight edge" over your competition?

You don't have to fly all the way to Florida to practice this.

Brain fuel is all around you.

3 Likes about ESPN Chicago

I turned on ESPN Radio 1000 here in Chicago Monday morning, excited to hear what the midday hosts, Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman had to say about the Cubs opener at Wrigley.

And while we got plenty of baseball chat, we also got a taste of the ESPN promotion machine.

ESPNChicago.com was live for its first day, and let me tell you, our fair city has never been exposed to anything as innovative. A breathless Silverman could barely contain his excitement--any why wouldn't you be? You can link directly to Adam Abdalla's blog!--while partner Waddle (or T-Wizzle as some callers like to refer to him as) was his typical indifferent self, passing the time until the show started its latest Jay Cutler conversation thread.

All of the things you love most about the world-wide leader, Sliverman shouted (the writing, the reporting, Scoop Jackson!), only now it's been compartmentalized into bite-sized, regionalized chunks.

And while it remains to be seen whether the new site will enlighten us consumers of the Chicago sports scene, one thing we do know--it's here to stay.

After a few days of surfing the site, here are 3 things we like about the site:

LIKES

1. It's local! I admit I'm a provincial snob. Although I like my San Diego Padres (being the son of a Navy seaman will do that to you) and my Washington Redskins (John Riggins my all-time favorite NFL player), I care mostly about Chicago sports. With the ESPN machine funding a site devoted to local teams, it's a slam-dunk win for the consumer

2. Deeper, contextual content. Here's a for instance--on the site today, you have a piece by Bears reporter Jeff Dickerson on the Bears 2009 schedule. A game-by-game breakdown of each opponent. About 1,000 words. That probably would have been published on the radio site before, but now with ESPN's synergistic promotion behind it, you can actually find it. This is what online journalism should be about--convergence. There are no space restraints in the internet.

3. Chicago SportsCenter. Now, if you don't want Stan Verrett bloviating into your computer screen like an uninvited relative over Easter, then turn the auto play off. Otherwise, you get about 4 minutes of local highlights, rolling as soon as you log in. If you're like me, I don't want to have to watch a full SportsCenter to get to what I want to watch. Now it's on demand--how I want it, when I want it.

A quick bonus--I am a big fan of the StubHub partnership. OK, this is a bit shamelessly selfish on my part, but as a Cubs season ticket holder, I appreciate the StubHub ad banners all over the site. You need 3 for the Cubs-Marlins on May 2nd? Plenty of options just one mouse click away.

Coming Later: 3 things we don't like about ESPN Chicago

Newton's Law

Covering a war is pretty heavy stuff. Not only must you dodge the noise--bullets, bombs and bust ups--you must also get the story.

This past weekend in Indianapolis, I sat in on a presentation by Jeff Newton (he's on the right), a producer with 60 minutes. Newton's primary job at CBS is covering wars--as a cameraman, reporter and producer. Since 1992, he has done stories in 66 countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Newton works primarily with correspondent Lara Logan, although he has also worked on pieces with Scott Pelley, Bob Simon and Dan Rather.

He gave the nuts and bolts about equipment--always have plenty of batteries--but he also shared intriguing insights on how journalists or anyone in any industry should think about their craft. Whether you are a beat reporter covering city hall in Gary, Indiana, covering politics in Columbus or running a software company in Toronto, they are principles that are impactful, no matter what your business.

I wanted to share 3 of Newton's Laws:

1. Don't let resources keep you from the story. Jeff shared an anecdote where he was called away on Christmas for a breaking news event in the Middle East. He had nothing but the clothes on his back and an AMEX card. He hopped on a plane anyway. You can always get what you need on the way.

2. Less is more. Too many characters can make for a noisy story. Overloading a piece with too many interviews will drive away your audience. Learn the art of cutting.

3. It's always the story that matters. Don't get bogged down what you don't have. It doesn't matter. Great storytelling is often hatched from the jaws of limited resources. Find great people. They are your muse.

Anyone want to add to this?

Do you have a 'Newton's Law' of your own?

Social Media Scientist

I've always been a big believer in "educational equity". To me, this is defined by the accumulation of knowledge from continued exposure to new ideas. This weekend, I attended the Society of Professional Journalists' seminar in Indianapolis. After sitting in on 4 sessions Saturday, I've got enough equity to buy a 4 bedroom condo in Manhattan.

I'll have posts related to the seminar all week, but up first is one on Dr. Victor Hernandez.

Full disclosure- Hernandez is not a doctor, nor does he have his P.H.D. No, he is an executive with CNN in charge of domestic newsgathering. A heavy hitter. Hernandez gave an hour or so presentation titled "Journalism 3.0" where he shared his viewpoints on social media and it's impact on the media industry. His message- if you are not engaged via social networking in some capacity, you will cease to become relevant. He talked extensively about Twitter, which is growing faster than any social networking site. Here are some quick tips shared by Hernandez--or tweets for those of you hip to the twit-lingo--on using Twitter:

1. For acquiring new and useful information. This was Hernandez's favorite reason for using Twitter.

2. For crowd sourcing. Hernandez heads up logistics for CNN's hurricane road shows and uses Twitter to not only organize these massive live events, but for connecting with their audience.

3. As a tool to further promote great work or endeavors. If you read something online, or happen to come across a terrific piece of video, Twitter is a useful platform to virally spread this information.

Hernandez made a point of emphasizing to separate the technology from the content. Sure, use social media devices such as Twitter to vet a story. But we still need skilled journalists to write and report.

A converged journalist is a well-fed journalist

The concept of working in a multi-platform newsroom has been around since web creation. The economics of this reality is finally trickling down in newsrooms and academia. It is no longer enough to just be a good writer, or an editor or photographer. To insure a lengthy life expectancy in journalism today, you must be able to do all three. Compartmentalization is out, convergence is in. Darwinism is the philosophy that reigns supreme; adapt or die.

Terrific article on Poynter's website about what's going on at Ball State. Students are learning how not just about new media platforms, but how to apply different skill sets along these platforms. One student took a NASCAR internship--against her professor's recommendation--and helped design a graphic that was used on a race car. This translated to revenue for the driving team.

You think she has a leg up on the competition come job interview time?

Just another example of how we must think differently about our jobs in media today. By attaching a sales and marketing component to how you evaluate opportunities and their outcomes, not you will stand out from your competition, you will be thinking like an innovator.

And you will be employed.

Journalism=innovation=application=employment