Why The Web
February 4th, 2007 | Published in Journalism | 9 Comments
Friday was my last day as an employee of The Washington Post newspaper. As I told my newsroom colleagues, it’s sort of a ludicrous thing for me to contemplate, since I barely imagined even getting to a paper like The Post. I was lucky to attract the attention of my former boss, Bridget Roeber, who worked hard to create a position for me and to recruit me (not that that took much). And I owe my next job, as database editor at washingtonpost.com, to my time at The Post and the people there who let me explore my web tendencies. For a large media company, it is remarkably willing to try new things, and that’s gives me a lot of hope for the future.
That said, there have been several of my colleagues who, when informed of my plans, responded with a single query and often an uncomprehending look: “Why?” To many of them, the creation of the journalism is the most important work, one that somehow gets lessened the further away from the newsroom one goes. It’s a cultural thing, and I’m sure many website employees know what I’m talking about. But it doesn’t make it any less urgent that we as an industry tackle this gap. It’s one of the things I hope to be able to do at washingtonpost.com – be an example of how you can mix the newsroom and the website in a way that sustains and encourages both rather than takes from one to grow the other. Maybe the staffing ratios will grow increasingly even over time; maybe websites will have more of their “own” editorial employees. What’s important is that the entire operation recognize that we succeed or fail together. It’s not “the paper or the web,” but the journalism everywhere. And for me, that job starts tomorrow.
February 5th, 2007 at 8:23 am (#)
[...] The Scoop: Why The Web Derek Willis moves from the Washington Post to washingtonpost.com. “there have been several of my colleagues who, when informed of my plans, responded with a single query and often an uncomprehending look: ‘Why?’” (tags: washingtonpost journalism online car computer-assisted-reporting database) [...]
February 5th, 2007 at 12:08 pm (#)
[...] Derek Willis, who blogs at The Scoop about investigative and computer-assisted reporting, announces his move from The Washington Post to… [...]
February 5th, 2007 at 11:44 pm (#)
Congrats, man. Great decision.
February 6th, 2007 at 5:26 am (#)
[...] Read Derek Willis’ post about his new job at WashingtonPost.com – one I can imagine becoming increasingly important as news orgs start to realise the power of databases – from archives to stories that use databases to empower readers (e.g. Channel 4’s ‘NHS postcode lottery’ piece ). [...]
February 6th, 2007 at 9:48 pm (#)
Database is all the core of any website’s structure. It drives the heart of the content and makes it available in many ways.
Congratulations.
February 7th, 2007 at 9:55 am (#)
From one Der* to another, let me say welcome! Not that I’ve been here long enough to play welcoming committee.
And I never really got the divide between newsroom and website either. But what do I know, I’m just a programmer.
February 8th, 2007 at 3:19 am (#)
Congratulation Derek. You’re leading the way for the rest of us. Have fun at your new gig!
February 8th, 2007 at 7:48 am (#)
[...] Ex-Washington-Post Journalist Derek Willis hat einen neuen Job: bei washingtonpost.com. Laut seinem Blog arbeitet er dort als “database editor”. Nicht nur für Journalisten – Stichwort Computer Assisted Reporting – werden Web-Datenbanken immer wichtiger, auch Nutzern selbst können viele Informationen ganz anders vermittelt werden. Viele Kollegen hätten Willis’ Schritt mit Kopfschütteln kommentiert. Er selbst schreibt zum Zusammenspiel von Print und Online: What’s important is that the entire operation recognize that we succeed or fail together. It’s not “the paper or the web,â€? but the journalism everywhere. And for me, that job starts tomorrow. [...]
March 29th, 2007 at 9:25 pm (#)
Hello Derek,
You’ve come a long way from The Pitt News and
WPTS-FM. Keep on keeping on!
Can you help me get a job at washingtonpost.com?