One of my favorite leaders and leadership teachers is my friend Alfredo Carbajal, managing editor of Al Día at the Dallas Morning News. That’s why I’m delighted to turn this space over to him today. You’ll benefit from his take on upgrading our approach to the gratitude we show today’s hard-working and often distance-challenged teams.
— Jill Geisler, Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity, Loyola University Chicago, Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership
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By Alfredo Carbajal
(Photo by Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
How many times can you say “thank you” or “good work” during Zoom calls with your staff before these two terms become stale and meaningless?
That’s a question in the minds of many leaders already facing enormous challenges in leading their newsrooms during a COVID-19 pandemic, a reinvigorated social rights movement, and the most acute economic crisis in decades.
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Yes, everybody is feeling anxious and facing an uncertain immediate future, but leading your newsroom means too that you need to keep your staff safe, engaged and motivated.
And since most newsrooms have been working remotely for the last six months, many traditions and rituals for celebrating wins and recognizing good work have been interrupted.
You cannot walk to a reporter’s desk to chat for a minute about a great story (How did you find that source?) or leave a hand-written note at the photographer’s desk complimenting them for authoring a moving photo essay.
Nor do we have the chance to share a piece of cake to celebrate awards, anniversaries, milestones, or just great journalism.
Donuts, anyone? Not these days.
You shouldn’t stop uttering a sincere “thank you” to colleagues for their efforts, especially when it is genuine and deserving, but it is also time for new ways to show appreciation.
I, too, have struggled lately with delivering effective praise. I contacted several colleagues to see how they are dealing with this issue. What are you doing differently in these post-quarantine days? What’s working? I asked.
Here are a few ideas:
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Communal Zoom shoutouts. “We heard a waterfall of thank yous and praise from one colleague to another. It’s really a terrific way to start the day, so we’ve kept that going,” said Robyn Tomlin, President & Editor at The (Raleigh) News & Observer in North Carolina.
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Gift cards. “I mailed the gift cards with a personalized note. We got the gift cards from locally-owned restaurants since they are struggling, and I figured even though dining at a restaurant isn’t really a thing these days, the gift cards could be used for takeout,” said Alison Gerber, editor of the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press.
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#GoodVibes. Many newsrooms are leveraging Slack — the internal communication platform— to work as an internal newsletter, give shoutouts and kudos. “It’s an easy way to give stars, hearts, high-fives that’s not driven by the leadership team,” said WBEZ managing editor Tracy Brown.
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“I believe in the power of meals,” said S. Mitra Kalita, senior vice president for News, Opinion and Programming for CNN Digital. “So throughout the pandemic, I send random dinners to team members. I’ve had colleagues with COVID and have sent some soup baskets in the mail.”
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“I’m erring on the side of over-communication,” said Peter Bhatia, Editor and Vice President of the Detroit Free Press. He said that he ramped up several meetings in recent weeks to explain to his staff progress on several newsroom initiatives including diversity.
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What does it take to turn your memories into a memoir? When is the right time to write a memoir about your life? How do you report on your own experiences and fact-check them? How do you determine what you don’t know and decide what to leave out? And when, and how, do you tell the people closest to you about their role in the narrative?
These issues will be discussed in a 45-minute program with memoirists Mindy Greiling, author of “Fix What You Can: Schizophrenia and a Lawmaker’s Fight for her Son”; Abby Maslin, author of “Love You Hard: A Memoir of Marriage, Brain Injury, and Reinventing Love”; journalist Angela Greiling Keane, managing editor, states and Canada at POLITICO, whose family played a role in both memoirs; with moderator Aly Colón, Knight Professor of Media Ethics at Washington & Lee University.
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We followed up with Sonia Rao, The Daily Tar Heel’s city & state editor, to find out what they’ve learned since the Voter Guide went live, how the response has been since our previous conversation and advice for journalists seeking to reach young voters.
What are the top three things you learned from preparing the 2020 Voter Guide?
Rao: The first thing that we learned is just how much work it takes to engage readers and really take into account what they want from our coverage. We tried to focus on the issues that students told us they cared about, which means that we had to do a lot more research.
Also, from the back side of things, communication was really important. It took a lot of coordination among all of us, especially with coordinating the print voter guides, and all of the different distributors.
And the last thing we learned is that we — I mean all of us went in hoping that we can make an impact — and I think we came out believing that we did. So just knowing that college news organizations truly can make an impact on what college students think, and prepare them for the election was something that I personally came out of the project with.
What are some of the ways you connected with your readers to bring them the information they needed?
Rao: At the beginning of the summer we created a survey and we spread those surveys to our respective student bodies through social media. … We collected from those surveys questions that students wanted us to answer with our general election coverage, and also issues that they cared about. Some of the big ones that were a common theme around every school were the environment, education in general, health care, civil rights. So the survey was the big piece.
And for the Daily Tar Heel, we have been utilizing a texting service to reach readers. … We are currently releasing a podcast centered around voting for students. So we've really been trying to focus on digital and multimedia forms of coverage, due to what we've heard from our students.
How has the response been so far to One Vote NC?
Rao: Awesome. I've heard a lot of great responses from my peers and on social media. Obviously, I'm not really on campus so I can't see people picking up the voter guides in the boxes or anything like that, but just through social media and other avenues, it has been really great. I'm really proud of everything that we've done.
What practical advice can you give to other journalists who wish to connect with younger voters?
Rao: Listen to them. Listen to what they want. Traditional print voter guides and long articles full of information aren't necessarily always what students want, and I'm speaking as a college student myself. I think the biggest thing is to just make sure you're reaching out to students and making them feel like they have a voice and making sure that if you want to reach younger voters, the coverage that you create should match what they want and what they're more likely to be engaged with.
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If you’ve found yourself reaching for your favorite comfort foods more often over the last several months, it’s not a coincidence. The gut is a “second brain,” meaning what you consume can impact your mood.
But the temporary high from those fries – or your treat of choice – is just that: temporary. While food isn’t a substitute for medicine, experts recommend using a healthy diet to strengthen responses to stress, anxiety and depression.
Some ways you can monitor how food impacts your moods:
- Track both what you eat and how it makes you feel for a few days.
- Look for patterns: Is it hard to sleep after a day of highly processed meals or snacks? Are your reactions to stress more aggressive after you’ve swigged a soda?
- Try cutting out one or two things.
- If you are seeing a counselor, share your food journal.
- Consult a nutritionist or dietician. Some health insurance plans include that coverage.
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This newsletter is written & edited by the National Press Club Journalism Institute staff: Beth Francesco, Holly Butcher Grant, and Julie Moos. Send us your questions and suggestions for topics to cover.
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