It is fair to say there is still some skepticism and misunderstanding about what Thunderdome is, and what we do.
It’s not for lack of transparency, communication, outreach or reporting. The premise of this blog, after all, is to report on Thunderdome itself: who we are, what we do and who we serve.
The skepticism is understandable, though. We can riff all day long about how we are here to empower the newsrooms of Digital First Media. But a good journalist needs to see something to believe it. And we have a lot of good journalists in our newsrooms. Last week, two of those journalists paid us a visit from Massachusetts to see Thunderdome for themselves.
Michael Foster, the editor-in-chief of the North Adams Transcript and Laura Lofgren, the online editor of the Berkshire Eagle hopped on a train to New York City to get a better grasp of who we are and how we can help them cover their communities.
“While I have recognized the potential in Thunderdome’s mission for some time, getting to speak with the people guiding the ship and seeing firsthand their passion for empowering DFM newsrooms was an exchange that deepened my perception of the local relationship to Thunderdome,” said Foster.
“As a newcomer to Digital First Media, it was wonderful to get a first-hand look at what goes on behind the once-seemingly-secret doors of Thunderdome,” said Lofgren. “After speaking to only a few of the editors, any reservations I had about what goes on at Digital First were quickly quelled, as everyone there was happy to answer any and all questions to the best of their abilities.”
To make their visit worthwhile, we scheduled them some time with key staff in news, sports, features, data and operations to talk in-depth about more ways we can aid both of their newsrooms, now and in the future.
“They had some wonderful ideas that are in the first stages of being implemented in my newsroom. So my visit was not only a bunch of handshaking, but a lot of idea sharing,” said Lofgren.
“I was impressed with the eagerness everyone at Thunderdome had for learning the needs of the North Adams Transcript, though we are but a small newspaper, and identifying how they could help,” Foster said.
It was time well spent for us too. We learned we need more interaction like this with our colleagues. We gained some valuable insight into two of the newsrooms that we serve just by talking about the communities they cover, James Taylor and the technical limitations they battle through every day. That’s why we are here, to work with Digital First journalists like Michael and Laura.
But don’t take their word for it. Or mine. We leave the door open to all Digital First newsrooms to come visit with us at any time.
“We don’t view Thunderdome as a place or one team of people,” said Thunderdome editor Robyn Tomlin. “It is a mindset that is shared by journalists across Digital First Media, and we love getting the opportunity to share what we’re doing with journalists from all of our DFM newsrooms. We always learn something useful from these visits.”
If you’d like to visit Thunderdome HQ on behalf of your newsroom, send Robyn an email at rtomlin@digitalfirstmedia.com to set something up at any time.