Former NY Times Editor Visits Exeter
Jill Abramson, former executive editor of the New York Times, will visit campus today and Friday. Abramson, who also served as managing editor and Washington bureau chief of the Times, will present an all-school Assembly and a lecture entitled, “Journalism During a Troubled Transition,” on the implications of journalism in the digital age.
Senior Katie Liptak, editor-in-chief of The Exonian, invited Abramson on behalf of The Exonian’s Strickler Fund. “Jill Abramson is an incredible journalist, editor, leader and resource of the publication industry,” Liptak said. “I thought it would be a great opportunity for The Exonian’s staff and the greater Exeter community to listen to her speak, especially at a time when newspapers, magazines and journalism as a whole are changing so drastically.”
English instructor Erica Lazure, advisor for The Exonian, was equally excited for the opportunity to hear Abramson speak. “She has a world class reputation as a leader, as a journalist, as an editor, and she is really going to have a strong message not only for the Exonian staff but the whole school,” she said. “This is going to be an incredibly interesting talk, and I hope many members of the Exeter community attend.”
“She has a world class reputation as a leader, as a journalist, as an editor, and she is really going to have a strong message not only for the Exonian staff but the whole school.”
Liptak, whose father is employed by the Times, first met Abramson eight years ago, when she interviewed Abramson for a project on Take Your Child to Work Day. Liptak saw it fitting to invite Abramson to campus on behalf of the The Exonian, the paper Liptak eventually came to edit.
Having heard of the Academy, but never visited before, Abramson said that she is looking forward to her assembly. “I have never seen the school. It is such a distinguished academic institution, and I was very curious to visit it after all these years,” Abramson said.
During her 11 years as managing editor and executive editor of the Times, Abramson led the efforts of the newsroom to make a smooth changeover into the digital age. “It is a very interesting and relevant subject,” Abramson said. “This transition affects the tendencies of social media and the emphasis on news that goes viral. A lot of attention is being paid to stories that are on the border between news and entertainment. The whole definition of what is a news story is up for grabs.”
In addition to the transformation of modern day reporting, newspapers also must learn to balance the new business model associated with online journalism. “Advertising revenue is not as profitable in the digital space as it was for traditional newspapers during the most robust years of newspaper growth, and the journalistic challenge is to have one newsroom doing both the best long term, investigative pieces while at the same time featuring breaking news on a 24-hours news cycle,” Abramson said.
But the evolution of contemporary journalism is not confined only to prominent news organizations. Lazure noted that this “transition” speaks very closely to what The Exonian is experiencing as a newspaper. “We have the web board that wants to have more of a presence, and we are trying to stay solvent as a newspaper, so even on this small, microcosm of The Exonian we are going through the transition of how to make print still valuable, important, and economically sound,” Lazure said. “This is happening on the broad scale as well as at our very own school newspaper.”
As a result, most people will be affected to some degree by this transition. Everyone depends upon news sources, whether it be the New York Times, or a magazine or blog, according to Liptak. “Learning how they impact our lives and how this impact will change in the near future is relevant and important to everyone,” she said. “I expect great interest from the Exeter community.” Although Abramson will primarily address the Exeter community as a whole, she will also have dinner with the staff of The Exonian to discuss how the paper can improve and evolve in the coming years. “A newspaper has to be supple enough to do original journalism that the rest of the pack isn’t doing while also quenching the thirst of readers for up to the minute news,” Abramson said. “That is very difficult.”