Garbiel Dance’s presentation at CUNY was insightful and yet I came away with some questions regarding his employer and his overall concept of journalism. I certainly agree, wholeheartedly, with Dance’s assertion on failure. It is definitely beneficial to experience such fate from time to time. It makes young professionals or students of any discipline better at handling the proverbial career rollercoaster. Mr. Dance suggests students should take more risks and perhaps “push the envelope” a bit more when creating some of the work while in school since “there is no pressure to make a profit.” For the most part he is correct, except that most students don’t believe there is no pressure and the restrictions are sometimes self-imposed.
Mr. Dance’s work with the New York Times is impressive on the level of interaction and appearance. I wonder, however, if the paper’s leadership fells this separates them journalistically or is it only to increase traffic and create brand loyalty, both very valid and important aspects of the industry. Dance considers himself a journalist first, then somebody who uses technology to improve on the content. There is no doubt in that the New York Times is an industry leader and they will continue as standard-setters on many fronts related to what could barely still be called the “print industry” especially during this tumultuous times for the medium.
If I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Dance two questions they would be:
1. Do you think you were hired on at the New York Times because of your journalistic talents or your familiarity with technology?
2. Do you believe such innovations regarding the Times’ online separate your employer journalistically?
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