Chief inventor

I will confess that when I saw a new title for a newspaper exec, I got loaded the snark gun. But then I fired it at myself. The Chicago Tribune has just appointed an associate managing editor for innovation. And I’ve been arguing that innovation is just what newspapers and the news industry need most. The press release said Bill Adee “will help shape editorial Internet initiatives, prepare the newsroom for an increasingly digital future and spearhead the newspaper’s efforts to produce quality journalism online. . . . Adee will oversee a restructured editorial department merging the multi-media staff and the 24-hour continuous news desk and supervise all online news and feature operations.” I wish him success.

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7 Responses to “Chief inventor”

  1. Garbanzo Says:

    Maybe if newsrooms pull in people who haven’t been part of newsrooms to help their transformation, I’d call that innovation. Otherwise, sounds like masturbation.

  2. Innovation in College Media » Blog Archive » ChiTrib’s new innovation editor Says:

    [...] via Jeff Jarvis Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

  3. Robb Montgomery Says:

    The paper had an all-star R&D ‘I’ team of editors (I for Innovation) 13 years ago when I worked there. It only lasted a few years but they have at least tried to give lip service to newsroom innovation before.

  4. The Zone Read » Blog Archive » links for 2006-12-10 Says:

    [...] BuzzMachine - Chief inventor appointed at the Chicago Tribune All newspapers could use chief inventors. It might turn around their businesses. The Chicago Tribune appointed one today. Jeff Jarvis was prepared to criticize, but it sounds like he’s glad their trying something new (Cyndy, I wonder what Chapman think (tags: msm innovation) [...]

  5. Pramit Singh Says:

    MAYBE THE TRIBUNE could not use the services if the likes of Rob Curley.

  6. Eric Corl Says:

    I think this is a great idea. This is certainly a new approach to research and development in the news room and I’d like to see it escalate to giving inventors exposure for new and innovative concepts.

  7. Tom Kinnis Says:

    Interesting article - a colleague emailed it to me a while ago and I just got around to reading it. I wonder what Robert Murdoch has in the works for his newspapers. Thanks for the great post. Tom

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