SWARMS OF NEW REPORTERS?

posted by James Reel

Here's an interesting article about ambitious plans spearheaded by four public broadcasting entities elsewhere in the country to spend $100 million on expanding news staffs in their cities to 100 reporters and editors per market, and emphasize getting news out in a more timely, tech-savvy manner rather than suffering the usual broadcasting delays.

Without giving too much away, I can tell you that we're taking baby steps in that direction independently at Arizona Public Media, although we're not planning to spend anywhere near that kind of money, and any reporters or editors we add to the staff over the next three years will be countable on a single hand. Stick around and see how things develop.

One question that goes unasked in the link: What, exactly, counts as a "reporter"? Let's remember that somebody calling in a tip--or merely a rumor--is, at best, a "source," and by no means a reporter, just as somebody who attends a concert and summarizes how enthusiastic the audience was and how the main performers swayed as they played is hardly a critic. I hope the mega-initiative in Minnesota, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles will focus on quality, not crowdsourcing.