The newspaper suicide pact

The newspaper suicide pact

Dan Conover of Xark says paid online content is one of the many ways newspapers are shooting themselves in the foot:

Does it matter that this is an idea with a known, recent history of failure? Or that human beings have no intention of paying for news they’ve always received for free? Does it matter that we already  know a return to the paywall-era of the early 2000s will cost these legacy media companies money they will never recoup? No, no and no.

And another Dan, Dan Wineman, also has an excellent suggestion.

(Dave Coverly cartoon via Creators Syndicate)

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She’s Every Woman

She’s Every Woman The always interesting, and often excellent, This Recording has a cool story of one-time stock photography model (literally “one-time” — she posed for a single picture) who now sees herself in all sorts of settings. The skydiving shot is priceless!

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Surprise Wedding Reception

Improv Everywhere strikes again, providing full reception regalia for a couple getting married at City Hall. This looks like it’s almost as awesome as my own wedding reception, which still stands as the best party I’ve ever been to.

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Newspaper Narcissism

Newspaper Narcissism Veteran reporter Walter Pincus says what’s killing newspapers is chasing after prizes and punditry opportunities rather than focusing on providing news. A worthwhile read, even if his discussion of the Web begins to veer into “you kids get off my lawn” territory. It’s certainly true that lots of papers focus on recognition from their peers more than serving their communities. But then, it’s also true that lately newspapers are tracking their online pageviews so closely that there might be a tendency to pander to the lowest common denominator with wacky or sexy stories that don’t really serve the public’s interest (try running a story on malfeasance at city hall, and a story about a guy who beat his wife with a sex toy, and see which one gets more hits). (Pulitzer pic via News Cycle)

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The 6-month point

It was 6 months (and a couple hours) ago that my life changed. And right now things are kinda-sorta looking up. I’ve got a couple pretty solid leads. But then, I’ve been there before.

It seems like there might be slightly more jobs out there than there were a few months ago, even if hardly any of them are in journalism per se. But there are some ways I can expand my skill set, increase my marketability and still be doing something worthwhile for a living. At least, that’s what I’m hoping.

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