Weekly column: Outsource This

My weekly column:

Outsource This: Bombay Is No Boistfort

June 26, 11:06 am

News item -- Several large metro newspapers in California and Florida are outsourcing their copy editing and page design work to India in a bid to save money. New Delhi-based Mindworks Global Media says it provides “high-quality editorial and design services to global media firms ... using top-end journalistic and design talent in India.” The Orange County Register says its local editors would still oversee the process.

 

What is a Chronicle assistant editor to make of such a story when both the publisher and a reporter mention it on the same day? I know my response: a clear, concise and relevant list of the top 10 reasons why my job should not be outsourced to India. (Publisher Dennis R. Waller, are you reading this?)

10. I know how to spell Newaukum, Olequa and Pe Ell without even THINKING about the need to look them up.

9. I’ve yet to mix up Toledo and Tenino in news copy.

8. I can easily explain to a concerned reader whether Mary McCrank’s or Mary’s Corner is the better option, depending on whether that person is hungry for a home-style meal or just wants to get from Matilda Jackson State Park to the beautiful community of Ethel by the fastest route.

7. Although I’ve never been through a tropical monsoon, I’ll never be able to forget the floods of 1990, 1996, 2006 and 2007.

6. In addition to my skills as a journalist, I can also buck hay. Stack it, too.

5. I don’t discriminate based on color. The Black River and the Clear Fork of the Cowlitz are all just water under the bridge to me.

4. I’ve met all three candidates for Lewis County Commissioner -- Bill Schulte, John Penberth and Lyle Hojem -- and I can assure you that what they lack in youth, they all make up for in experience.

3. In a few weeks, if the deer will just stay away from them for more than a few days in a row, I’ll be able to supply a pint of fresh raspberries to anyone in The Chronicle’s executive offices who needs bribing.

2. I may not know any Hindi, but I can speak a few words of Chinook Jargon. (Skookumchuck means “a rapid” or “strong water,” by the way. As someone who has capsized in a kayak on a Skookumchuck River rapid, I have no official comment.)

And the number one reason my job shouldn’t be sent overseas is ...

1. The travel costs would be outrageous for the publisher to check on whether my replacement had fallen asleep with his head on the keyboard.

...

All joking aside, The Chronicle won’t be outsourcing anything (as far as I know.) Still, these are hard times in the industry. In my last column I asked any and all readers to circle the actual words they read in a week’s worth of Chronicles and drop them by the front office. The exercise will help as we look at ways of telling the stories and presenting the important information of our community in ways that are easily accessible and relevant.

So far the first person to respond to my offer is Ira Graham of Randle, who sent me an A section with plenty of circles and even some commentary. Thanks Mr. Graham. I’m still awaiting papers from the rest of you.

...

Parade season has begun in earnest. Last week the Vikings took Rochester by storm, and this weekend marks Egg Days in Winlock. At 11 a.m. Saturday the annual Egg Day Parade will march past the proud chicken statues and the famous egg in Vern Zander Park.

We can expect plenty of people to throw candy from floats. Considering the theme, does anyone throw hard-boiled eggs?

...

For those who like their poultry in a more competitive form, this Sunday is the annual chicken race in Independence, the valley community south of Rochester. The race is open to hens only, although organizers of the race didn’t say why. One can only presume that roosters would be just a bit too competitive and combative, although it’s possible that the hens, after generations of being chased around the barnyard by the aforementioned roosters, are just plain faster.

...

Brian Mittge, assistant editor of The Chronicle, welcomes comments and news tips via bmittge@chronline.com or 360-807-8234.

Hot Enough to Fry an Egg?

I'm awaiting a fax from a member of the Egg Day organizing committee with a list of events for this weekend's big festivities in Winlock. We'll be running a calendar of events for all our big summer festivals this year -- expect to see them in Thursday's A&E section in most cases, although some, such as Egg Days, will run along with a special feature about the town or its festival.

The weather should be good for the 11 a.m. Saturday parade this year, perhaps with temperatures approaching the 90s, so keep your little hatchlings away from hot sidewalks.

News Tribune Editor Promises "Reset" in Wake of Cuts

David Zeeck, the widely respected executive editor of The News Tribune in Tacoma, posted an editorial Sunday discussing how the newsroom has reacted to last week's news of 8 percent cuts. It's a good read about how a strong newsroom is dealing with the shock of losing longtime colleagues due to changing market conditions.

As the week wore on, you could hear conversations begin about how the work will be different – how each of us who remains will have to shoulder a slightly bigger load to fill in the gaps left by the departures.

We’ve already done some of that work. Beginning in January we started a process we call “reset” (as in pushing the reset button on your computer) to rethink how we cover the news as the Web grows ever more important (it now accounts for more than 10 percent of our revenues with more than 857,000 unique visitors to our site in May) and as the staff shrinks slightly.

He compares the dismay to radioactive half-life — each day the pain was only half as strong, but likely to never be the same.

Zeeck ends with a quote from Mark Twain (a former newsman) about the ongoing need for journalism, no matter how bad the economy might get:

“I figure even the people in the north of hell will be curious about what the people in South Hell have been up to.”

Touring the World's Front Pages

One of my favorite sites on the Wide World of the Web is the collection of the day's front pages at Newseum (note that some international papers print pinup-type photos you might not want your kids to see; viewer discretion is advised.) It's fascinating to see how papers around the USA and the planet play the same news events. Most exercise similar news judgement (although some, like The Chronicle, usually go all local on the front page). 

Some papers are trying to shake up the moribund newspaper industry by trying out wild new front page designs. Check out a few:

• The Virginia-Pilot
• The Bakersfield Californian
• The Orlando Sentinel
• The Wyoming Tribune Eagle
• The Excelsior

That list comes courtesy of legendary newspaper designer Tim Harrower, who spoke at a small journalism convention in Seattle this week. Chronicle Executive Editor Michael Wagar and I attended. Read more about what we learned in my column today.