They say it's a recession when your neighbor loses his job, but a depression when you lose yours. What about if the job was that of a friend and colleague- someone not close but well-respected? It hit home today that we are literally watching the Temple crumble around us. The edifice is really crashing down as the semester drags on.
I realize I had previously been somewhat glib, but I got a wake up call about what scary shape the news industry is in. I found out that my friend "Sam" of the "Relation" was let go in some massive restructuring. He was the international editor when I was press officer for the Israeli Consulate. We sparred but always with respect and admiration. He was supposed to be an interview for our international reporting project- we'll see if he still wants to participate. I feel like a vulture circling a still-warm body as I am trying to contact him. Yet more importantly, I want to contact him to offer my support.
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This year's layoffs are claiming a lot of high-quality journalists -- journalists who aren't going to return if mainstream media rally and actually swing into hiring mode someday. A concurrent concern is what will happen to all the undergrad journalism students who will be scared off and change majors in the next couple of years.
ReplyDeleteWhat about all those bloggers and intrepid, work-for-food budding journalists who are filing and endless stream of stories and opinion? I won't be a true believer for a couple more years, long after the "thrill of being a journalist" is gone and the reality of making a living kicks in.
Could we see a shortage of quality journalists in a few years? I'm not counting that out.