{"id":4233,"date":"2016-07-07T16:42:46","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T16:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/?p=4233"},"modified":"2016-07-07T16:42:46","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T16:42:46","slug":"star-tribune-editor-suki-dardarian-on-learning-storytelling-and-digital-journalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/star-tribune-editor-suki-dardarian-on-learning-storytelling-and-digital-journalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Tribune editor Suki Dardarian on learning, storytelling and digital journalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Veteran editor Suki Dardarian has been involved in digital journalism endeavors for years. Currently, she is the\u00a0senior managing editor and vice president of\u00a0the Star Tribune. Dardarian will be the keynote speaker at our NSPA summer workshop, Storytelling: The Complete Package<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We spoke with Dardarian about the changing media landscape, multimedia projects and how young journalists can be successful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NSPA: You\u2019ve worked at the Star Tribune for about two years now. How\u2019d you end up there?<\/b><\/h3>\n

SD:<\/strong> I came here from the Seattle Times, where I had been for around 15 years. I had been at the Times in a number of roles, starting as a senior editor overseeing the news operation. I expanded to take on features, sports, investigation, design \u2014 and then eventually digital. I shifted over and took mostly responsibility for digital and design, and really focused on not just the creation of the content, but the curation of the content and the storytelling. <\/span><\/p>\n

And we forged a lot of new ground. We created a project around ocean acidification that got an online journalism award for explanatory journalism with integration \u2014 a really highly integrated multimedia project. I was looking for new challenges, and a spot opened up here at the Star Tribune and I went for it. One of the first things I did when I got in the door was begin working on another immersive storytelling project<\/a> around the decline of the bees, which won that same award<\/a> the following year from the journalism association.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NSPA: And how have you liked it here?<\/b><\/h3>\n

SD:<\/strong> Oh, I love it. It\u2019s a beautiful part of the country. I hadn\u2019t spent much time in the Midwest, and I do have some roots here, so it\u2019s nice to be able to come back and see where my forebearers lived. But it\u2019s beautiful part of the world, and we\u2019ve been really enjoying it. <\/span><\/p>\n

And on top of that, I think the Star Tribune is just an amazing place to be right now. In an industry that\u2019s really challenged, it\u2019s thriving and innovating, and it\u2019s a really exciting place to be. I hear a lot of consternation about what\u2019s going on in the industry, and it\u2019s all true. But we\u2019re exhilarated by the challenges, and we’re in a position where we can really challenge ourselves and try to do the best we can do on multiple platforms \u2014 and carve out a bright future for the place and for this community.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NSPA: You mentioned working on large, immersive projects. What is the workflow for taking on a big, immersive multimedia piece?<\/b><\/h3>\n

SD:<\/strong> Well, it\u2019s interesting because that project on the bees was a first here, in terms of the scope and volume and breadth and ambition. And I would say since then, we\u2019ve done probably another half dozen to a dozen projects of varying sizes \u00a0\u2014 some just as large \u2014 and it gets easier each time. Our designers have created templates that we use. We have begun to build out a process for what has to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of it\u2019s through learning. We\u2019re realizing, \u201cOh, we have spent 450 years following a workflow for print.\u201d So having to reinvent that for different projects \u2014 or for all of our storytelling \u2014 is one of the huge challenges facing newsrooms today. It\u2019s not insurmountable, but you really have to rethink the order in which you do things, and more than ever it really forces more discipline on the process of storytelling, and particularly on the notion of being hyperfocused on what it is you\u2019re trying to do. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you meander into an idea and the idea or the story doesn\u2019t have a strong focus or verb, you get halfway through it and different people are on unclear about what the mission is. And by that time, you\u2019ve shot video and designed pages and built templates; you have interactives and data going on.<\/p>\n

I think one of the things I\u2019ve learned much more through this process is the need to be incredibly clear and focused form the beginning. You need a plan, and you need a strategy, and you need a mission. What is this story that we want to tell? Everybody needs to feel it and understand it. That collaboration and coordination is more important than ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NSPA: That\u2019s a great point. How have you seen digital journalism change or emerge through your years in the field?<\/b><\/h3>\n

SD:<\/strong> I think we\u2019ve developed more confidence in our ability to tell stories. I think as the digital platform first surfaced, I think it was destabilizing for some storytellers: \u201cOh, it\u2019s changing expectations, it\u2019s changing who we are, it\u2019s changing what we do.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And I think as we all get more experience with new platforms and tools, we realize that the core of storytelling is still the same, it\u2019s just, the tools are changing. So our sense of story, our sense of ethics, our sense of value remain fairly constant, but you simply have to apply them to a different medium.<\/span><\/p>\n

I guess I would say that some values have evolved. For example, transparency is much more important now \u2014 and not that we didn\u2019t want to be authentic 20 years ago, but I think authenticity is much more a key element of the process of storytelling. I think because we’re doing more of it, from social media to print to the web, I think people are communicating more and they\u2019re making decisions faster, in many cases. So I think it has challenged us to be on our toes around the disciplines that are important to us and our organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NSPA: How do you think the definition of a journalist has changed in the past couple decades, or has it?<\/b><\/h3>\n

SD:<\/strong> I think you could argue both sides of that. As I was discussing with values, I think all the core values should still be intact, but there are some that I think have become even more important because of the nature of the platform, and I think that ethics and decision-making have never been more important. If you\u2019re choosing to publish something on the fly, you know, you could make mistakes if you don\u2019t have the culture and the sense of embracing what\u2019s right for the community and what\u2019s right for the story \u2014 are you ready to publish that? <\/span><\/p>\n

So I think ethics, values and, as I said before, transparency and authenticity are incredibly important. Journalism was more about telling people what they needed to know \u2014 what we thought they needed to know. While that\u2019s still an element of it, it\u2019s also listening to people and trying to understand them and understand what they need, and asking them questions and having them respond. It should be more of a community conversation. And some people will say it always should have been a community conversation, but I think it\u2019s critical now that that\u2019s inherent in part of our effort, that it\u2019s woven into everything we do.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NSPA: Right. And, of course, we have all those underlying values that are consistent through all of journalism, but a lot of journalism seems to be continually learning new storytelling methods or platforms or techniques. How do you think that young journalists can keep on learning?<\/b><\/h3>\n

SD:<\/strong> I think all journalists need to keep learning. I\u2019ve been in the business for decades and I\u2019m still learning. I sat in a meeting yesterday, and a number of people were teaching each other Snapchat, and you know, they may not use it, but you need to understand it. I think you have to be in a constant state of learning, and that needs to be active, not passive. The fact is all these amazing tools are being developed that can help us tell stories. Some of them might be kind of shiny and cool in the beginning and then you realize they really don\u2019t deliver on their promises, but you begin to develop a sense for what works for you or what works for the story. <\/span><\/p>\n

I think the worst thing you can do is learn all these tools and throw them at a story, and again, why are you doing that? What is the story about, and how can those tools serve the story and serve the community, serve the audience?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NSPA: I think that\u2019s a great point. And as you mentioned before, and as we all know, the industry is a really rapidly changing place right now. How can young journalists, or all journalists, face that change confidently?<\/b><\/h3>\n

SD:<\/strong> I think making sure they are learning, making sure that they are paying attention to what\u2019s going on \u2014 reading, experiencing other storytelling, seeing what’s going on in the industry. <\/span><\/p>\n

Looking in the art world, you know, looking on the edges of the internet. Just being open to new ways of doing things. Learning from the potential missteps of others, because when there\u2019s this much change going on, obviously there\u2019s going to be moves that folks make that don\u2019t work.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NSPA: Definitely. This plays off the last question a bit: Is there any advice you would give to high school students who want to become journalists \u2014 how they can make themselves stand out or be the best that they can be?<\/b><\/h3>\n

SD:<\/strong> I think being a journalist is understanding the values, the tools, the trade, the practice, the craft. But it also requires more of you, in terms of being a human. And I think (it\u2019s important to) get a broad sense of the world, whether it\u2019s learning about art or music or history or science or the economy, learning about the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

I mean, journalists are curious, and if you\u2019re curious only about journalism, that\u2019s limiting. And I think, really, when I look at the best journalist I\u2019ve worked for and with and above, they have passionate interests in areas beyond this craft. They have interests in science or art or technology, and I think those things are what also keep you growing and learning.<\/span><\/p>\n

I also think the notion of being a collaborator in this industry is super important. It\u2019s always been, but it\u2019s even more important now, as we discussed earlier, because there are so many layers to what we do, and because we\u2019re trying to do a lot in many ways with limited resources. Collaboration, cooperation, getting your part of the work done, I think is so critical to the individual\u2019s success, but also to the success of the storytelling and the success of the institution.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NSPA: Great. Is there anything else you would like to add?<\/b><\/h3>\n

SD:<\/strong> I\u2019m always excited for this event because it is so heartening for me to see so many really smart people \u2014 smart high school-aged people \u2014 having passion for journalism. And that says to me that this discipline has a bright future. <\/span><\/p>\n

When I talk to high school students now, they have so much more going on than I did. And that\u2019s the other thing that\u2019s really impressive, that folks coming into this business just keep getting better and better. It\u2019s pretty cool.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you’d like to hear more of Dardarian’s thoughts on multimedia \u2014 and apply those storytelling skills with hands-on reporting \u2014 it isn’t too late to sign up for the NSPA summer workshop, Storytelling: The Complete Package.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

This interview has been edited and condensed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Veteran editor Suki Dardarian has been involved in digital journalism endeavors for years. Currently, she is the\u00a0senior managing editor and vice president of\u00a0the Star Tribune. Dardarian will be the keynote speaker at our NSPA summer workshop, Storytelling: The Complete Package. We spoke with Dardarian about the changing media landscape, multimedia projects and how young journalists […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[24,21,17,19,23,25,22,26],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4233"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4244,"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233\/revisions\/4244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentpress.org\/nspa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}