Thursday, November 20, 2008

Changes for an Ink-Stained Sister ….

Around our local corner of the blogosphere, most of the posts devoted to newspapers seem to be rants about the evils of the mainstream media, and the divine justice being visited upon them through dwindling readership, and through the unvarnished contempt – the virtual slings and arrows - of online punditz.

Kind of sad, really.

Going back forty-or-so years, I have come to know and work with an awful lot of newspaper people … a heck-of-a-lot more than most of you have. I have found an overwhelming majority of my ink-stained brothers and sisters to be good journalists … and good people. And while my most recent work has been devoted to broadcast and online media, I still keep my hand in print, writing an occasional magazine article, and keeping in touch with those who work the medium full-time.

If only the online rants were the worst of the challenges they confronted. They must also deal with the challenges posed by a constantly-changing, endlessly-evolving media marketplace … a marketplace that demands reducing costs, and reducing the payrolls that are a part of those costs … which is what my e-friend Karen at
Pen in Hand must now confront.

“The newspaper industry, as you might have heard, is struggling mightily, which means my beloved
Plain Dealer is struggling right along with the rest. Contracting, like the rest,” Karen, a reporter in the Plain Dealer’s Arts & Entertainment section, writes in this post at her blog.

There is a silver lining to this cloud, and it’s a pretty good one …. The Plain Dealer’s loss may become a great gain for a much larger audience than was ever reached by that fine old daily.

“It seemed like a good time to listen to the voice inside me that kept saying things like, ‘In my next life I want to illustrate children's books.’ Or suchlike,” Karen goes on to write. “I didn't really think that would be possible, and maybe it won't be. But this week I finished my portfolio for my application to art school, and while I'm not officially a student yet, I hope to be soon.”

“Journalism has been so good to me. I worry that people will discover, all too late, the value of a strong local newspaper. Bloggers are nothing without professional journalists -- don't let anyone tell you different. On the other hand, it might be time for a different generation to take the wheel of that ship. And it's definitely time for my next life to begin.”

Atta girl!

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