Robb Montgomery

I am back in Chicago after a week in London, Bucharest and Berlin working on a variety of journalism projects. I pitched up to the University of Westminster in London this week to deliver a lecture to a friend’s Journalism 101 class.

Here’s a few photos:


A conversation more than a lecture - which was exactly the point. We talked about newspaper journalism, the challenges facing the industry and the skills that reporters need to work in today’s newsrooms. It was a great morning.

I was one of two guest speakers and after the Northwick Park work was done - David Dunkley Gyimah and I tubed it Baker Street for some lunch and talked about future projects.

There is always some really interesting work going David’s way and it is really great to have a friend and colleague like him to support. In the end that is what we really see as the future of journalism enterprises - focusing less on direct competition but rather finding smart ways to amplify each other’s voices and those of the audience to paint a richer portrait of a story, the characters and the consequences.

That may sound a little like Journalism 401 - but there you have it.

Time for more pictures


A couple of days before this class I was approached by a three-person VJ crew as I walked to my Underground station. The reporter asked me an interesting question “Have I stolen anything recently?” and I replied, ‘of course.’ And I had.

I took their picture slyly as they approached me and I told them on camera that “I steal time.”
They looked at me strangely and then I showed them the photos to prove to them that I was, indeed, a time bandit! Not the clever type of answer they were looking for, I imagine.

But, it was good for a laugh and we chatted some more. I noted that the reporter’s microphone was missing a radio or any attaching cable and that prompted the producer to admit that they were film students and that they were not doing actual reports but rather, “practicing.”

They must do some real reports sometimes because that is an IOC (International Olympic Committee) press badge sticker attached to their camera.

Photos from Bucharest


Just some happy snaps from a brief working trip to Bucharest.
I was in Bucharest to teach three classes: The World Editors Forum Master Classes organized by Bertrand Pecquerie, WEF director and Aura Iordin the founder and director of the Executive Media Management Institute.

The theme was “How to set up your integrated newsroom” and featured George Brock of The Times (UK) Bertrand and myself. They gave some great presentations and really connected with the editors-in-chief who were taking the class.

George smartly booked tickets afterwards to an orchestral concert given by the national company at an historic hall. Best part was that the hall was directly across from the hotel - perfect. Sadly, jet lag hit me squarely between the Haydn and Schubert performances and I had to beg out midway.

As a musician, that crushed me - I was so enjoying the intimate setting where you could really appreciate the dance the musicians had with their instruments, coaxing noises out in the most creative ways. Arggh. Next time I must mandate a catch up day in my contract before teaching!

I was probably more tired than usual because the hard drive on my Mac failed a few hours before I left for Romania. Thank God for Apple Pro care and the Oakbrook Apple Geniuses. They were able to put in a fresh drive and OS but I had to fly halfway ’round the world before I could restore the rest of my Mac from my Time Machine backup. Talk about stealing time!
It worked but, of course, I had lost my presentation on Print vs. Web design and decided to instead make a new version that included a look at all the Tribune paper redesigns.
It was a fresher talk and it got a great conversation going but getting all geared up robbed me of all my explorer juice.

So the pictures are fewer, but the city is quieter than many I visit. A relaxing pace is nice, too!

Next stop will be Hyderabad, India and then onto Cairo, Egypt where I will work again with the Media Development Project on a great range of visual journalism and newspaper design projects.