Rice students, some of them Thresher journalists, toured the Houston Chronicle through Rice’s Doerr Institute for New Leaders.
The Doerr Institute provides Rice students the opportunity to step beyond campus and into the Houston community to learn from top-level leaders.
Speaking with Chronicle opinion editor Lisa Falkenberg and publisher John McKeon, the students learned how newspapers have adapted to the digital age and discussed the leadership skills needed to run a newsroom.
“Every business has to understand where it creates value,” McKeon said. “At the Chronicle, our value creation starts on the fourth floor, in our newsroom. Without the trust of our audience, we wouldn’t exist.”
That trust also extends to how teams are run in order to produce timely, accurate and fair content.
“Leadership is about collaboration and respect, earnestly incorporating people into the decision-making process,” Falkenberg said. “You can’t do the whole job yourself. If you find people who complement your strengths and can take care of the details, as a leader you are able to focus on the vision.”