Columnists Adapt to Expanded Duties

By: Dave Astor Byron Smialek has written thousands of columns since joining the Washington, Pa., Observer-Reporter in 1968. But now, he's also on the police beat every Tuesday ? while covering township meetings, too. About 30 miles to the north, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist and National Society of Newspapers Columnists (NSNC) President Samantha Bennett is facing demanding Web-production responsibilities.

At a time when numerous newspapers are saving on staff costs, many columnists have been asked to assume additional tasks. Some columnists say they're fine with that, while others voice very mixed feelings.

Thrice-weekly columnist Smialek says of his non-column work: "I'm perfectly happy to do it. It ain't killing me."

Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch metro columnist Ann Fisher ? whose extra tasks include a blog, speeches, and TV/radio appearances ? adds, "I think you have to do more when you're a columnist. You're the face of the newspaper."

Fisher calls her appearances "an opportunity rather than a burden," because she enjoys meeting the public and can get column ideas. She adds that using "other portals" to attract people is especially important during the newspaper industry's economic troubles of the past few years.

NSNC Vice President Phil Reisman, who does a column, blog, radio show, and other work for The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., agrees with that sentiment. "You can't think in terms of just readers anymore," he says. "There's a greater audience of viewers, listeners, and readers."

Samantha Bennett doesn't disagree, but wonders if so much Web emphasis at a time of tight staffing is stretching newspapers to the point where reporting, writing, and editing may suffer.

In Bennett's case, she was a copy editor/ paginator until being switched to Web production in 2005 ? while still doing the weekly column she began in 1998. "I fought the move," the Post-Gazette staffer recalls. "The techie side of my brain is not nearly as strong as the 'wordie' side of my brain."

But her job was switched nonetheless. So the paper had one fewer copy editor to catch problems with stories, and Bennett had less defined time to do her humor column as she moved from solid print deadlines to get-it-up-yesterday Web work.

"Because of the constant interruptions, I was writing the column a half hour here and 10 minutes there," she says. "It's frustrating when I can't do the best work I can."

In July, the Post-Gazette finally agreed to give her a half-day per week to write the column. That has helped, but around the same time her Web-production tasks grew more complex with loads of HTML coding.

When The Herald-Times of Bloomington, Ind., put Mike Leonard on a non-deadline reporting team about a year ago, it cut back his 1985-launched column from three to two times a week. But his workload still increased. For one thing, there can be more than one story per week to write in place of that former third column.

"And all the stories I write need reporting," Leonard says. His column requires reporting, too, "but when you're stuck once in a while, you can whip out a non-reported column that's just entertaining."

Then there's the issue of not being able to write opinion columns about some topics on which he objectively reports, because of the conflict-of-interest question. "It's going be an ongoing challenge," says the ex-NSNC president, who also shoots videos for the paper's Web site and photos.

Leonard did emphasize that the stories he writes "can be fun and interesting," and adds: "I still like my job."

NSNC Immediate Past President Mike Argento does videos, podcasts, a blog, and stories for the York (Pa.) Daily Record in addition to his 1989-launched column. "It's a tough time in the business," he says. "People are doing what they have to do to survive and stay employed."

Argento adds: "Sometimes I can't give my columns the amount of time they need. That really disturbs me. Being a columnist is the reason I'm here ? my No. 1 job." But he says non-column work does use different creative muscles.

Ann Fisher, who has written her thrice-weekly Columbus Dispatch column since 2005, launched her blog last September. She says the paper actually "cautioned" her about blogging because of the extra work involved. But Fisher says the blog isn't as difficult as it could be, because only some of her often-short posts focus on non-column topics.

At the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, columnist Tony Norman says some writers have been asked by their editors to blog, while others have volunteered. "I've been approached to blog, but resisted until recently," he says. "But I'm eager to blog now that the bugs have been worked out of the system ? assuming I can find the time."

Fisher also does a Dispatch story once in a while, as well as the aforementioned speaking engagements and TV/radio spots. Unlike most columnists who don't get extra pay for extra work, Fisher can receive a "nominal stipend" from the Dispatch for her appearances.

Phil Reisman of The Journal News is another thrice-weekly columnist with a multimedia presence. In summer 2007, he started doing short "video columns" for a Journal News cable-TV show ? a gig that was on hiatus as of August. Reisman, who began his column in 1998, also hosts an hour-long weekly radio show and does a 2006-launched blog.

It makes for a hectic but "fun" schedule, says Reisman, adding that it helps that his work can at times be repurposed for different media. For instance, a radio interview might inspire a column.

Observer-Reporter columnist Byron Smialek does other things in addition to his police and township-meeting beats. For instance, he's been involved for years with the "Take Us Along" feature that invites readers to bring a copy of the Observer- Reporter to a place they're visiting and have a photo taken. Pictures have been published with readers holding the paper at the Great Wall of China, the South Pole, and many other locales overseas and in the United States.