Jason Seiken
{{short description|British-American media executive}}
{{multiple issues|{{COI|date=October 2016}}
{{autobiography|date=October 2016}}}}{{Infobox person
| name = Jason Seiken
| citizenship = American
British
| alma_mater = Union College
Stanford University
}}
Jason Seiken is a British-American media executive known for launching the online edition of The Washington Post, PBS's digital output, and the Telegraph Media Group. A dual-citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom, he was the first American to run the newsroom of a major British newspaper. His brief tenure as editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph was considered controversial.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/05/jason-seiken-digital-wizardry-daily-telegraph-numbers|title=Jason Seiken's digital wizardry didn't boost the Telegraph's numbers|first=Peter|last=Preston|date=5 April 2015|website=The Guardian|accessdate=20 September 2018}}
Early life
Seiken attended Union College in Schenectady, NY, and later studied at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Career
Seiken started his career as a newspaper reporter, columnist, and editor at the Schenectady Gazette (New York) and then at the Quincy Patriot Ledger (Massachusetts). In 1993, Seiken was one of 12 journalists in the United States to be awarded the John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University. Seiken serves on the Knight Fellowship Board of Visitors.{{cite web|url=http://knight.stanford.edu/about/people/board/jason-seiken/|title=Jason Seiken|publisher=|accessdate=20 September 2018}}
= The Washington Post =
In 1994, Seiken was hired to lead The Washington Post’s digital team and rose to become editor-in-chief of The Post’s digital subsidiary. Seiken subsequently hired and led the team that launched washingtonpost.com. At launch, the site was praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer who compared it to Michael Kinsley’s digital magazine Slate.{{cite journal|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18444204.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008194532/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18444204.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 October 2016|title=Washington Post's Web Site a Tour de Force Compared to Slate.(Originated from The Philadelphia Inquirer)|date=30 June 1996|accessdate=20 September 2018}}
The Washington Post website included several industry innovations. It was the first newspaper site to update around the clock, the first to include significant non-newspaper content such as the first chapters of books, and the first to devote significant resources to creating online community that gave users a voice.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/cyberspace/cyberspacetranscript.html|title=Transcript - High Stakes In Cyberspace - FRONTLINE - PBS|website=www.pbs.org|accessdate=20 September 2018}}
= AOL =
In 1997, Seiken joined AOL.{{cite web|url=http://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=3332|title=American Journalism Review|website=ajrarchive.org|accessdate=20 September 2018}} In early 2001, he transferred to London to head programming for AOL UK and, later, AOL Europe.
= PBS =
In 2006, Seiken returned to the United States as senior vice president and general manager for digital at the Public Broadcasting Service.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/sep/11/jason-seiken-telegraph-chief-pbs|title=How Jason Seiken, new Telegraph editor-in-chief, reinvented PBS|first=Lisa|last=O'Carroll|date=11 September 2013|website=The Guardian|accessdate=20 September 2018}} Under Seiken, PBS Digital launched a series of products including an iPad app,{{cite web|url=http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/pbs-for-ipad-streams-prime-time-shows-for-free/|title=PBS for iPad streams prime-time shows for free|date=27 October 2010|publisher=|accessdate=20 September 2018}} and a video platform.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2009/digital/news/pbs-takes-a-big-leap-forward-in-online-video-and-reaches-a-much-younger-audience-33326/|title=PBS takes a big leap forward in online video and reaches a much younger audience|date=22 April 2009|publisher=|accessdate=20 September 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a5844/pbs-video-online-042309/|title=PBS.org's New Video Page: Hulu for the Tote-Bag Set|date=23 April 2009|publisher=|accessdate=20 September 2018}}
During Seiken's time at PBS, the station expanded into online video content.{{cite web|url=http://current.org/2012/05/gms-take-up-pbs-plan-to-expand-web-video-output-2/|title=GMs take up PBS plan to expand web video output|date=29 May 2012 |publisher=|accessdate=20 September 2018}} Seiken formed PBS Digital Studios, which began producing educational but edgy videos.{{cite magazine|url=http://digiday.com/publishers/why-pbs-autotuned-mr-rogers/|title=Why PBS Autotuned Mr. Rogers|date=23 October 2012|magazine=Digiday|accessdate=20 September 2018}} The studio’s first hit, an auto-tuned version of the TV classic Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, was YouTube’s 10th most viral video of 2012 having been shared 1,045,039 times.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/these-are-the-20-most-viral-ads-of-2012-2012-12?op=1&IR=T|title=The 10 Most Viral Ads Of 2012|website=Business Insider|publisher=|accessdate=20 September 2018}} By Seiken's final year at PBS, monthly video views on PBS.org had risen from 2 million to 225 million views per month and PBS had won more 2013 Webby Awards than any other media company.{{cite web|url=http://digiday.com/publishers/pbs-sees-success-with-year-old-digital-studios|title=How PBS Won at Digital - Digiday|date=18 June 2013|publisher=|accessdate=20 September 2018}}
=''The Daily Telegraph''=
In October 2013, Seiken became the digital executive and editor-in-chief of The Telegraph in its London office. Seiken's appointment as a digital executive and editor was controversial. Coverage in other Fleet Street newspapers emphasized that Seiken was an American with no previous experience at British newspapers.{{cite news |last=Mance |first=Henry |date=21 January 2014 |title='Telegraph' editor Gallagher sacked over move away from newsprint |website=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/b67ed692-82c2-11e3-8119-00144feab7de |url-access=subscription |accessdate=20 September 2018}}
In early 2014, Seiken pitched his vision for the newspaper in a series of speeches to staff, which according to an online poll, some staff liked.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/feb/06/jason-seiken-dailytelegraph|title=Seiken wins over Telegraph journalists as he plots its digital future|first=Roy|last=Greenslade|date=6 February 2014|website=The Guardian|accessdate=20 September 2018}} In public speeches and interviews, Seiken said journalism was entering a “golden age”{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2014/07/start/big-question|title=The Big Question: 'How will gaming change in the next ten years?'|first=Harry|last=Lambert|magazine=Wired UK |publisher=|accessdate=20 September 2018}} of better news gathering tools, such as databases and drones, and emerging technologies to present news, such as virtual reality.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlvnwqnpRiQ|title=Jason Seiken - Where we are heading|last=Newsworks|date=11 April 2014|publisher=|accessdate=20 September 2018|via=YouTube}} These speeches became the subject of derision in rival British newspapers, for “talking about drones" and Private Eye afforded him the name 'Psycho Seiken'.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/mediamonkeyblog/2014/dec/14/media-monkey-look-ahead-2015-itv-bbc-sky|title=Media Monkey looks ahead to what's in store for the industry in 2015|author=Media Monkey|date=14 December 2014|website=The Guardian|accessdate=20 September 2018}}
Seiken had early success in boosting The Telegraph
A year after his appointment, Seiken was moved from his editorial role to a strategic role.{{cite news |last1=Burrell |first1=Ian |title=High sales. Big profits. Rising user numbers. So why the turmoil at the Telegraph? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/opinion/ian-burrell-high-sales-big-profits-rising-user-numbers-so-why-the-turmoil-at-the-telegraph-9819632.html |accessdate=20 September 2018 |work=The Independent |date=27 October 2014}} He stepped down the following year.{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/231d010e-d932-11e4-a8f1-00144feab7de|title=Editor-in-chief leaves Daily Telegraph after 18 months|website=Financial Times|date=2 April 2015 |accessdate=20 September 2018|url-access=subscription }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://hbr.org/2013/09/how-i-got-my-team-to-fail-more Harvard Business Review]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3n0LIwAyWM TEDx]
- [http://video.pbs.org/video/2237347628 PBS]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlvnwqnpRiQ Telegraph]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78urc74MiVE Mashable]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seiken, Jason}}