Published: October 22, 2009

On Sept. 28, the Los Angeles Times named Sean Gallagher, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’93, the managing editor of its online newsroom. Gallagher, a former Observer news editor, answered some questions for the Observer about his new position, his experience in the newspaper business and what he thinks students should know about the industry today.

OBSERVER: What experience had you had that led to your new position as managing editor of the online division?

GALLAGHER:I began my career in print journalism at the Observer. I was a co-news editor as well. I later had short stints at The Village Voice, a couple of other small newspapers (Her New York, Fire Island News) before transitioning to educational and children’s book production at Scholastic. Along the way, I taught myself HTML and began doing small business Web sites in 1994. I left Scholastic in 1997 to work for AOL and then moved to nytimes.com. I’ve worked in a variety of management roles from editorial to sales that gave me a great education in the Web business. When I joined Los Angeles Times after two years at sddt.com, a business paper in San Diego, I was named associate editor and then an online managing editor. Now I’ve been added to the masthead and oversee a portfolio of sites.

OBSERVER: How do you react to people who say that newspapers will be dead soon?

SG: Well, usually those folks have a vested interest. Michael Moore is pushing a movie, bloggers are looking to raise their profiles. You really have to look at the source. Will newspapers continue to exist? Surely. They are important pillars in the communities. Will they continue to look the same? No. The news business is evolving.

OBSERVER: How can newspapers, from national to college, stay relevant despite the presence of the Internet? Do they have to resign themselves to the fact that the Internet is the only medium that will be relevant?

SG: That depends on the situation. Smaller, niche publications will continue to thrive if newsprint costs remain within reach. Smarter recycling techniques should make that possible. So a campus paper—reaching a targeted audience and having a relatively controlled circulation—should remain healthy. The largest papers will also continue to offer print editions as an option, albeit at a rising cost as time goes on. Print editions of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times will most likely become status symbols. Print editions will continue to be a viable avenue for advertisers as well.

OBSERVER: What are some of the greatest challenges facing a journalist today?

SG: Information overload is the greatest threat to journalists. It has become more important than ever to craft a “package” around an article. It isn’t about the inverted pyramid alone any longer. Alternative story-telling is key to cutting through the clutter. Visualizing data is important. For young journalists still in school, the time to retool by taking flash and graphic design courses and learning to shoot and edit video is now. The future of journalism belongs to the multi-taskers.

OBSERVER: What can journalists learn from bloggers and commentators, and also what can journalists learn to avoid?

SG: The most successful bloggers aren’t really reporting. They are optimizing their blogs to reflect the searches used by readers. Professional journalists can influence search results by writing headlines that are succinct and contain keywords and phrases. Luckily search engine optimization is very easy.

OBSERVER: In a world of Glenn Becks and Sean Hannitys, what can a journalist do to stand out yet still remain ethical?

SG: Glenn and Sean are both marketers. They have their brand and are adept at getting it out there. Newspaper journalists tend to shy away from this. They shouldn’t. They should be using Twitter, Facebook and other venues to get their name and their scoops out there.