By Michele McLellan, posted on the Knight Digital Media Center website Dec. 5, 2011 – 

“Since 2007, Knight-McCormick leadership programs at KDMC have given me a front row seat at the transformation of news leadership to meet the demands of the digital age. The more than 100 news leaders who have participated in the programs faced a dizzying array of choices about how to best shape a digital strategy, how to navigate tricky organizational sandpits as they implement it, and how to adjust and reset their tactics each time a new innovation or a new cutback hits.

In the face of these challenges, news leaders bring to the task remarkable energy, creativity and determination, born of their passion for news. In the process, the more effective ones have developed new skills and practices – some of them hard skills like understanding digital tools and metrics; others soft skills like knowing when to step up and when to pull back.

Based on dozens of conversations and interviews, the report, ”New practices shape transformative news leadership in the digital age” highlights key practices:

1. Focus the mission - “The toughest choices are about resources today, and you have to pick the things that go to your core mission. Part of the answer is as much what you don’t do as what you do.” – Sherry Chisenhall, The Wichita Eagle

2. Adapt the structure - “You have to first think about your goals: What are you trying to achieve? Then you start talking about roles, then procedure and processes.” – Julia D. Wallace, Cox Media Group Ohio

3. Overcommunicate - “Your message begins to resonate more clearly when you have training. You begin to get feedback from staff that they’re confused, so you work to explain it and the staff ultimately gets it.” – Carlos Sanchez, formerly Waco Tribune-Herald

4. Get comfortable with not having all the answers - “To be at the front of a room and not have an answer is difficult. ‘I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out together’ is an acceptable answer. It took me awhile to figure that out.” – Jon Cooper, Digital First Media and Journal Register Co.

5. Be a catalyst - “I had to figure out a way to get everyone to think about it … This stuff isn’t just something nerdy people do in some corner.” – Melanie Sill, formerly The Sacramento Bee

6. Get out of the way - “You have to have leaders who understand that they don’t understand the new world and be willing to hire people who are steeped in the new world, and they need to then trust them to lead.” – Michael Skoler, Public Radio International

7. Use the tools - “Using an iPad, using an iPhone, using apps, location-based tools, mapping, etc., if you’re not using these things, you can’t understand the readers’ expectations.” – Carolyn Washburn, The Cincinnati Enquirer

8. Own the numbers - “We did extensive audience research where we tried to really drill down on our audience. Understanding what their interests are is important.” – John Yemma, Christian Science Monitor

9. Make time for the future - “Now it’s much more about staying on task for this five-year plan in order to enable the organization to continue producing superior content and also earn revenue around those efforts.” – Nicole Hollway, St. Louis Beacon

Read the full post on the Knight Digital Media Center website