Tech Trends

By: Branson Missouri

It’s a rare privilege to spend an hour and a half with Professor Andrew Cline, he’s a true credit to Missouri State University and to the Journalism community as a whole. As we sit over beer and coffee (he drinks a beer while I suck down my caffeinated elixir) I ponder the last great court reporter – none other than Ron Davis. Over the past week I’ve held conversations with a radio and AP Reporter both who claim Davis as their trainer – a sentiment echoed as if learning from Davis were a degree from Harvard.

To them Davis is the 1980’s Springfield News-Leader reporter with a knack for finding news, writing catchy headlines and understanding the scorecard of daily game conducted in our local courts. The tally has since been lost and to date I’ve been begged by a judge by a prosecuting attorney and by the public to provide some insight to what may be the most important branch of government and a living testament of our media outlets failure to provide comprehensive coverage (psst…copying and pasting press releases doesn’t count). Ron Davis has left the building and when I visit the courthouse I rarely see reporter’s present.

I don’t mean to write about Davis as if he were dead it’s just that he’s conducted one of the most interesting campaigns of our last election - an Internet campaign called Doug TV. Andrew Cline says he’s retired, other’s say he’s been compromised. What’s left is little more than Chatter – interesting Chatter but Chatter nevertheless….

Ping – My RSS Reader sounds like a doorbell. Jerry Jacobs has just announced that he’s joining the Army. The professor almost jumps out of his seat and makes a kind statement about the television journalist (something the professor rarely does as a newspaper purist). The professor speculates he’s going to write a book… Davis responds hours later with:

“Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism. Hunter Thompson said it. Jerry Jacob has lived it.”

Retired or not is irrelevant. Ron’s disposition, political affiliations and random chatter may not be either. What’s important here is that he’s read. He’s read by the head of every major news outlet in the region with few exceptions. Influence is important here as social dialogue shifts to whatever topic Davis finds relevant to the day.

The professor continues, he’s on his fourth and last beer. It’s been a long day. Lunch with the Springfield News-leader resulted in a lengthy discussion about how to engage Gannet’s new corporate dictate.

It’s official now, the Internet is no longer a second-tier objective but rather a component to the communities ability to access public information. It’s a News Organization not just a newspaper. It’s a community resource not a lion guarding the gate of truth. Cline shared this wisdom about the ultimate paradigm shift the successful News Organization of the future saying it’s a “Clearinghouse of Public Information” as he illustrates the model with his finger on the table. Gannet’s on the forefront and if you want to see results in the bank…buy stock.

The topic shifts. It’s my favorite part of my meeting with the professor. It’s the joy of hearing Grampa tell a story about the good ol’ days. Professor Cline suggests Newspapers move to the more convenient tabloid size format and I’m told why the inverted pyramid is so important. Newspaper writers will ramble on…when it’s time for an ad the publisher can just cut the story….