Robb Montgomery has left a great comment on a post over at Andy Dickinson’s place:

The typical newspaper newsroom traditionally has been undercapitalized and stuffed with crummy old computers.

These are the questions I ask news executives.

  • Is your IT department under editorial control? Why not?
  • Has you boss ever blogged?, or hand-coded anything in HTML?
  • Have they ever posted a photo on Flickr, mixed multi-track audio or edited news video?
  • Does it feel like your paper’s IT department has turned off the most vital parts of the internet and are filtering your access as digital reporters and editors?

How are you going to transform into multi-platform news operations if you are a journalist working in a newsroom that can’t even use the internet as well as your readers and users can at their home?

I’m not sure the MD needs to know HTML or use Flickr, but beyond that, the words ‘nail’, ‘hit’ and ‘head’ spring to mind.