11-Color
The News-Press 11
May 8, 2014
Don’t mourn the news too soon, say panelists Veteran reporters discuss future of journalism By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@coloradocommunitymedia.com Perhaps you’ve heard the news. Or not. Journalism is dead. Not so fast, say three veteran local journalists. “There are those who say we don’t need journalists anymore, because everybody’s a journalist,” said Ken Durham, who now teaches aspiring news hounds at Arapahoe Community College. “Well, when everybody’s a journalist, nobody’s a journalist. … People still want people to check facts.” He hosted the “This Just In: Journalism is Alive and Thriving in the Digital Age” panel on April 29. Panelists discussed how rapidly changing technology in a rapidly changing world challenges all media outlets to come up with a way to keep up, keep relevant and keep getting paid.
“I think they’re trying different models, but I don’t think we’re there yet,” said Susan Thornton, a former Littleton mayor whose first job out of college was writing for U.S. News and World Report. She went on to write columns for the Denver Post and today runs her own media-relations and marketing company. “The community newspaper is more important now, because we’ve lost the community gathering place where everybody would sit around the pickle barrel and discuss what was going on,” she said. “Community news is the way of the future,” said Bob Burdick, former editor and president of the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News. He views it as defensive driving, alerting citizens to things like crime and the actions of local government. “You can act on it in time to change it,” he said. Now retired, Burdick recently served as Colorado Community Media’s editorial adviser. “Somebody who says journalism is
dead may or may not understand what journalism is and what it isn’t,” he said. What it is, he said, is acting as an agent for the people, finding out what’s interesting and distributing it to others. What it is not, all three agree, is someone sitting in a basement behind a computer, anonymously spouting opinions as facts. “Some sites unabashedly take one side,” said Burdick. “Some sites are simply gossip mongers, some sites are just trying to provoke you just to get a reaction. … You have to evaluate the facts in that context.” Thornton worries about people believing everything they read without considering the source. “I really worry about the future of this country with the demise of newspaper ethics,” she said. “This is central to the democracy. … They’re not going to vote well if they’re not informed.” But, she points out, technology has also led to some compelling moments — consider the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, which got widespread attention via Twit-
ter. All three stress that to make it today, reporters have to continually learn new and diverse skills. Thornton, for example, went from being a beat reporter to writing grant requests, speeches, training materials, videos, opinion pieces and even books. She recently started running media-relations workshops for city managers and department heads, and she is now a licensed mediator. “It’s just some of the ways journalism can take you in your life,” she said. Dunham noted that in today’s economy, companies are moving away from having big communications departments to hiring just one or two people to do it all — everything from photography to video production to monthly newsletters to graphic design. “The thread that runs through all of that is communication,” said Burdick. “You can’t write just so you can be understood, you have to write so you can’t be misunderstood.”
New director hopes to take libraries into future Pasicznyuk takes over job held by mentor LaRue By Mike DiFerdinando
mdiferdinando @coloradocommunitymedia.com Robert “Bob” Pasicznyuk has begun his work as the new director of Douglas County Libraries, following in the footsteps of mentor and predecessor Jamie LaRue. Before taking the Douglas County job, Pasicznyuk served as the director for Iowa’s Cedar Rapids Public Library. Pasicznyuk assumed his new post May 5, taking over for LaRue, who retired in January after nearly 23 years of service. “He was a mentor of mine and it’s an honor to be following him and building on his work,” Pasicznyuk said. Pasicznyuk is coming to Douglas Coun-
ty after five years of leadership at Cedar Rapids. During his time there, he helped the library system bounce back from catastrophic flood damage. Pasicznyuk acted as the Pasicznyuk project manager for two simultaneous building projects, a $46.6 million flagship library and a $2.5 million branch library. While in Cedar Rapids, he was also able to help reverse a decade of eroding library support and in favor of a restoration plan that included a library communication campaign and brand initiatives. Prior to his role as a library director, Pasicznyuk spent nearly 10 years in library districts, including six in Douglas County Libraries, acting in senior information technology roles. “It’s the No.1 library in the nation in its
County seleCts arChiteCt for new libraries The Douglas County Libraries Board of Trustees has se-
lected Studiotrope Design Collective and Anderson Mason Dale Architects to develop an architectural and design plan for three new libraries in the district.
The goal of No Leaf Unturned, the library building campaign which began in 2013, is to respond to the community’s growth and demand for library spaces by building new libraries in the Town of Parker, City of Lone Tree and City of Castle Pines. of 15 firms that responded to the DCL call for an architect, five finalists were selected and invited to participate in an extensive interview process. The process began with an architect showcase on April 8, during which firms presented category. That’s just a really tempting position to compete for, so I threw my hat in the ring,” Pasicznyuk said. He was chosen to be the new director in part because of his understanding of technology and a vision for its role within
to more than 60 members of the community.
following The showcase, the finalists described their qualifications and responded to questions from an interview committee. Presentations addressed firm profiles, relevant experience, practice philosophy and each firm’s view on emerging trends and best practices in library and civic place design. firms were evaluated according to several criteria, including design leadership, qualifications of project staff and consultants, team organization, experience in soliciting community input, innovation and creativity, fees, showcase survey results, team dynamics and interpersonal skills. libraries. Pasicznyuk has presented on various library initiatives and served on many boards, including the Linn County Early Director continues on Page 12
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