Profiles in Mass Communication

by Nicholas Khow

A TESTAMENT to how much the journalism industry has changed in the past fifteen years, Dave Braunger has man-aged to work at only one news-paper since 1997 after gradu-ating college. Today, hiring someone at a well-established publication months after get-ting their college degree is considered somewhat uncom-mon. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, Minnesota’s larg-est newspaper, labels Dave as a “web content designer”. Does this sound like an ambigu-ous job description? Braunger somewhat agrees, defining himself as more of a “prob-lem solver” than a designer.

WHEN asked to describe what he does on a daily basis, Dave lets out a chuckle. With the assertion that the purest part of what he does is design, Braunger goes on to say that a lot of his job is problem solving. Although design is an integral part of what he does, a majority of his work entails figuring out how to get produced content from the news-room onto the website. Examples of this include news story summaries, headline spills, drawing photos into a gallery and so on. He works on elements like video players, photo gallery players, sound applications

Braunger at work.

OBTAINING A DEGREE in graphic design and a minor in journalism at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, Dave confesses he was not initially interested in the idea of working at a newspaper. But after his experience at UW Eau Claire’s The Spectator, he decided the at-mosphere was a good fit. He discov-ered satisfaction in the stress, the constantly changing nature of the newspaper industry, and working with incredibly talented and intel-ligent peers. Once leaving college, Braunger interned at the Star Tri-bune for a summer, and then back-

packed through Europe for three months. Upon his return, a job in the online department at the Star Tribune opened up. He applied for it, and has been at the newspaper ever since. One of the factors Dave considers advantageous to entering the journalism workforce is a back-ground in multiple areas. He be-lieves having studied both graphic design and journalism in college was the only reason he could work at a large newspaper right away. Since becoming employed at the Tribune, Braunger has won two Regional Emmys and multiple epPY awards.

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UPON first entering the Star Tri-bune headquarters, I felt a bit taken aback by the atmosphere. My pre-conceived idea of a large newspa-per was that it was constantly busy, with phones ringing, jammed print-ers, and a genuine air of excitement. However, what I walked into could not have been more opposite. Dim lighting, unoccupied desks and lit-tle noise brought upon a new per-ception of the big-name newspaper. Another surprising aspect of Dave’s job was his work hours. Contrary to my perception of the typical journal-ist’s hectic work schedule, Braunger consistently works Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm. Braunger considers the online department to be a bit more dynamic than others. For instance, when a video needs to be put online, he applies a par-ticular system or process to put the video where it needs to be. This makes it so he does not necessarily have to be in the office all the time,

The Star Tribune office.

the underdog, because possessing the mindset of maintaining domi-nance can be limiting. He firmly be-lieves in making smart and strategic decisions towards success in the future, rather than thinking about what aspects of your past have got-ten you to where you currently are.

BRAUNGER expressed a strong stance towards the advertising de-partment, considering it a neces-sary evil and something that could be done much more efficiently. Dave says their boiled-down motto is to take any open space on the website and fill it with an ad. At this point, Braunger believes they have diluted the value of advertise-ments and compromised the us-ability of the site. The Tribune hires remnant advertisers, who provide them with house or filler ads that are obtained for less than what is sold locally. These display ads are not effective, garnering a fraction of 1% click- through rates, accord-ing to Braunger’s supervisor Jamie Hutt. Since these rates are so poor, web pages must contain as many ads as possible. Yet the newspaper-

and interactive content. He says his day-to-day routines are always dif-ferent, and are oftentimes dictated by the bigger news stories. His tasks range from determining page struc-ture, design, and layout to final com-positions, photo tweaking and video programming. The general goal of web designers is to make the web-site interface and navigation sys-tem easy and reliable for the user.

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THE STAR TRIBUNE, along with countless other publications, has undergone large changes in the past few decades. The journalism industry is constantly changing with the introduction of new tech-nologies and changes in socio-eco-nomic conditions. Braunger consid-ers his entry into the Star Tribune to have been at a transition period between the print and electronic eras. Prior to the dominance of on-line media, journalist professionals were less hesitant to take an un-orthodox approach or idea and run with it. Today, they are much more reactionary in nature, resolving to always do something better than a competitor. However, Braunger does not deem this a major problem for the Star Tribune. Fiscally, there is little competition with other news sources like the National Public Ra-dio or the Pioneer Press. Profession-ally, Star Tribune employees must always stay on top of what others are doing so they are not outdated. Yet Dave admits to preferring being

Professionally, Star Tribune employees must always stay on top of what others are doing so they are not outdated.

especially since all tasks delegated to him are technologically based.

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secluded space, the online employ-ees moved into the building that houses the advertising, photogra-phy and news staff. Previously, the news department was not interested in the online aspect. This permitted the freedom to try new technologies without any restrictions, but nowa-days the news staff often dictates decision-making for the online staff.

Braunger’s Regional Emmy Award.

advertising relationship is interde-pendent, for you cannot have one without the other. There do not ex-ist any completely free websites, for the users are going to pay for them one way or another, whether it’s through advertisement impressions or subscriptions. The Star Tribune’s bankruptcy is largely owed to the decline in profit of print advertising, with the emergence of the Internet. Not only is it cheaper to advertise online, but it allows advertisers to track the effectiveness of their mar-keting schemes and campaigns. Print advertising has pass-along and word-of-mouth capability, but online ads can be more interactive.

Braunger considers this a detriment, asserting that most of the newsroom employees were raised with ideals more in line with print. This can pre-vent the necessary changes towards online media outlets and the under-standing that viewers of online news have competing sets of eyes and at-titudes than those who get the news-paper physically delivered. News-papers’ editorial sections present readers with articles oftentimes labeled as strictly ‘right’ or ‘left’ in opinion, whereas a wider variety of voices are available on the In-ternet. Internet users are also more likely to form stronger opinions, as

The Strib’s abandoned basement, where print-ing and circulation previously took place.

IN REGARDS TO the changing role of mass communication, Braunger thinks the shift towards electronic news providers is inevitable. If one has the option of getting information online versus paying for a newspa-per, most people would choose the free option. As long as free content is available, most people are going to find ways to get to that instead of paying extra for information they can get for less. The Star Tribune had a website you could subscribe to in 1995, in line with AmericaOn-line (AOL). The official website was launched in 1997-8, and the Tri-bune has probably undergone five major redesigns and three content management systems (CMSs) since then. During these, articles and vid-eos are categorized and stored in archives, amongst other tweaks and modifications with the appearance. The business side typically drives any of these redesigns, motivated by a desire for better aesthetics and efficiency. When new technology or formats become popular, Braung-er feels it is optimal to start clean and build everything back up than to continually modify things. What makes online journalism unique is that it used to be more self-en-closed. In a tour through the various floors of the Tribune headquarters, Dave showed me the entrance to the old building for the online depart-ment. From such an expansive and

online media is less objective than that in print or on television. The one disadvantage to online user-generated content is filtering what portion of that content is actually trustworthy and valuable. Because anyone can technically become a journalist online, there has been a shift in people’s expectations for reliability and statistical accuracy.

Print advertising has pass-along and word-of-mouth capability, but online ads can be more interactive.

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Braunger’s office environment.

LOOKING TO the future of online journalism, Braunger says the visual presentation that goes along with newsprint – the ease of absorption for information, clarity, cleanliness, the grid-like structure – is just as important for online as print. The amount of information the public receives between the two mediums is different though. Customization is becoming a driving force behind the way news is presented. People today are much more capable of choosing what information reaches them. No longer is agenda-setting

theory entirely applicable, as peo-ple are now more able to decide for themselves what information is im-portant and how to approach think-ing about it. Systems like RSS (Really Simple Syndication) are in use to pro-vide online users with the means of reaching content they are interested in. Every newer generation is more technologically proficient, so it be-comes the print industry’s responsi-bility to continually renew their for-mats and pay constant attention to their audience’s needs and desires in order to continue functioning.

Nicholas Khow is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, double majoring in Graphic Design and Strategic Communica-tion, with a focus on Advertising.

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