innovation

OK, if you count niche brands, naplesnews.com represents maybe site 6 or 7 in Scripps' redesign rollout. But it is our fourth newspaper market to get the new look and underpinnings, as of last evening. And the first in a market where we could legitimately ghost a palm tree and pier into the background.

Don't let Steve Yelvington's excellent rebuttal (started to say "analysis," but it's more direct than that) to the American Press Institute "Newspaper Economic Action Plan" pass without due consideration.

Links with enough dust on them to prove how far behind I became in reading and blogging:

Design and UX stuff

• Introducing Typekit: Taking advantage of emerging markup/style practices that allow fonts other than the overexposed "Web-safe" selections, this service appears to be the most meaningful development for better Web typography in a long time. (Here's hoping widespread adoption of new font capabilities will make my ancient Text Style Sampler finally obsolete.)

Ever-industrious Tim Harrower, working on a new edition of one of his textbooks, recently asked me some questions about journalism, online and the intersection of the two. My replies follow. I know he asked others in online media, so I hope maybe some of those folks will share what they said, too -- start of a new meme, perhaps?

On to the Q&A:

Question: Most journalism students are intimidated when professors tell them that, if they want to become reporters, they'll have to write stories, shoot video, narrate slideshows, record podcasts and create Flash graphics. But really, how realistic is that?

Chris O'Brien provides five steps for newsroom innovation in a post at MediaShift Idea Lab. In short:

1. Make it [innovation] a priority.
2. Create a process.
3. Foster new collaboration.
4. Offer incentives.
5. Evaluate and learn.

All great advice, and the details support it well. I jump off, however, whenever people say no one in media exerts this effort, as O'Brien warns:

"Newsrooms should, but won't, offer financial incentives. They should, but won't, offer bonuses or revenue sharing for ideas that prosper."

Juan Antonio Giner, friend from SND days, says the newspaper industry spends too much time "doing the same and expecting miracles."

True. His advice:

"The publisher of a $5 billion European newspaper group called me yesterday asking me about innovative U.S. newspapers to visit.

'Sorry, but no one does things different or better that you,' I said.

'Go to Google.

Go to Pixar.

Go to Facebook.

Go to Apple.

Go to Microsoft.