By Gregory Favre
We were in the last moments of
Poynter's two-day Future of News seminar, and it was time to say thanks to the news executives who had given of their time, energy and wisdom to discuss this incredibly important subject -- and maybe just add a few thoughts in the way of a benediction.
I recalled a recent sermon given by our pastor about the joys of faith, and it struck me that there is a constantly shrinking level of joy among journalists today. So many folks in our newsrooms are losing their faith -- faith in the present and in the future of our business. And that is truly saddening.
But this group of men and women didn't write off the future. There were different viewpoints as to how news and information might be delivered and paid for, what it might look like, how communities might be served -- but I didn't sense that anyone was ready to toss in the towel.
It is up to leaders, such as those who came to this gathering because they care so deeply, and hundreds upon hundreds of others who share their faith in the future, to lift up the spirits of those who work with them and for them. I am not suggesting a Pollyanna outlook. There will be more pain as we go through the vast changes ahead.
Many are already feeling it. Layoffs and job freezes are everywhere. Space reductions and travel curtailment are everywhere. Angst and anxiety are everywhere.
"Woe is us" is an anthem these days.
So, go home, I told the group, and use your energy, use your imagination, use every nurturing bone in your bodies to create an environment where the men and women in your organizations can embrace change, live a good life and feel fulfilled in their work.
Create an environment of caring, of healing -- an environment in which people will have the courage and the opportunity to take risks.
Create an environment that is built on the idea that you will confront your own fears and the fears of others, one built for success on a foundation of humanity and humility, one built for those who dare to dream about tomorrow without forgetting about yesterday.
I told them of something that I had heard as I hopped through the channels on my hotel television. It was Bill Clinton speaking at the Tulane University graduation. At the end of his speech, he talked about the discipline of gratitude and it reminded me of how grateful I am for so many things that have happened in my life, personally and professionally.
As I look back on my news career, I am enormously grateful for all of the things that have come my way because I was given the gift of being a journalist. The friends I have made, the people I have met, the places I have seen, the communities I have grown to love, the talented and generous mentors and colleagues I have learned from, the stories I have read and the differences they have made, and the list could go on and on. And I hope I can continue to add to it.
As my friend and former legal counsel -- and then boss at McClatchy -- Gary Pruitt, cracked about me at the 2006 ASNE convention, I am old. And, as he said, it's nice to have old folks like me around to help preserve our oral history, especially as the past gets farther and farther away in our rear-view mirrors. I will keep my iPod handy.
I have witnessed massive changes in the newspaper business since the days when I started as a youngster on my dad's Mississippi weekly: a move from hand-fed, two-page presses to today's technology-driven playpens. And there's so much more to come.
But what hasn't changed is what we do as journalists. What hasn't changed is that the future of news, in any age, is directly linked to the future of our democratic society.
We have to fight like hell for both. And we cannot afford to lose either.
It just doesn't happen.
