John Kroll developed a training program that turned the newsroom of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, with about 200 journalists, into an online-savvy organization. With his guidance, the staff of Ohio’s largest newspaper learned to deliver breaking news online, use blog software, practice search engine optimization, and more.
As Online Editor until he left in 2013, Kroll supervised a department that worked with the staff of the paper’s affiliated website, cleveland.com, to select and package the newsroom’s reporting, commentary, photography and video. He oversaw comment moderation.
In 27 years at The PD, Kroll designed pages, wrote columns, and was a deputy business editor who led award-winning coverage of the bankruptcy of LTV Corp. and the country’s retirement funding crisis.
Previously, he worked at the Muskegon (Mich.) Chronicle, the Saginaw (Mich.) News, the Detroit Free Press and the Chicago Sun-Times. He was a reporter, copy editor, page designer and picture editor.
He’s also not nearly as stuffy as the description above would indicate.
Best wishes for you John, good luck in the future. I really hope there are no hard feelings between us.
David
Thanks, David. No hard feelings at all. I appreciated a commenter who could have outspoken opinions without making things personal.
Saw this via a twitter link! Great to see your new venture. I’ll be following you.
May I humbly suggest my book: Woodward & Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate. it explores their reporting methods, how their work forever changed journalism, the rise of investigative reporting and celebrity journalism. And asks the question: How does one live the rest of one’s life when at age 30, they have achieved the kind of fame, fortune and success most of us hope to have by the end of their life? http://www.amazon.com/Woodward-Bernstein-Life-Shadow-Watergate/dp/0470168811
Since Lisa is “humbly suggesting” — a Watergate book that really is remarkable — could I nominate my own “Pulitzer’s Gold” for consideration in a future incarnation of your list? Team journalism and the role of the newsroom organization has been widely under-covered, giving students and media buffs the idea that lone wolves (or Woodstein-style duo-wolves) account for most great coverage. My 2008 look at the stories-behind-the-stories of the Pulitzer public-service category winners aimed to tell “how they got the story.” It includes Watergate, of course, but also delves into the 2003 Boston Globe pedophile priest stories, for example, with interviews of the entire team. I’m doing a new edition for next year, timed to come out just ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prizes. Worth a look, I think. http://www.pulitzersgold.com
Roy, I know from experience that putting a team on a big story introduces a whole set of different challenges. Interesting.
Hi John, I’m writing a piece for a final year University project about the relevance of the inverted pyramid. I’ve recently read your blog post ‘Death to the inverted pyramid; life to alternative story forms’ & would love to hear more about about it from you. Is there any way I can contact you to discuss or as I am based in the UK, do you have a e-mail address that I can reach out to you on?
Thanks, Kind Regards, Amy
Amy, email me at john (at) johnkrolldigital.com
John, come back. The Browns boards need you.
It’s always nice to be wanted.