More sobering news. I need a beer . . .

Mizzougrad96 · Feb 8, 2008

silentbob said:

Whenever I read "There will always be a need for newpapers," for some reason I think of the poor soul who once made rotary telephones, saying: "There will always be a need for telephones!"

Yes, newspapers will always exist in some form, but I don't think that's the point. With declining ad revenue, few people are going to be able to make a living in this industry. College students have nothing nothing to fear. They're the ones who will get all the jobs. Not because they're brilliant. But because they'll work for nothing.

The people who are sweating this are the 45-year-olds with three kids, a mortgage and an annual 2 percent raise, if that. They're looking at 20 years until retirement with little hope of making more money. Find a new career? At that age? Possible, but not easy. In 10 years, the college students will be in the same, if not worse, position.

As for the poster who wrote there will always be a need for sportswriters, that's true, too. But the definition of "sportswriter" has changed. These days, any Joe with a blog on his favorite team is a sportswriter. Hell, Rich Eisen wrote a book! What has Rich Eisen done in his career that people would want to read about? ... That's a thread for another day.
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There will always be a need for VCRs...

Moderator1 · Feb 8, 2008

Hey, Mizzou, while I'm setting my VCR can you please look in your bag and find a mini-cassette or two I can borrow? Always a need for those, too.

Mizzougrad96 · Feb 8, 2008

Moderator1 said:

Hey, Mizzou, while I'm setting my VCR can you please look in your bag and find a mini-cassette or two I can borrow? Always a need for those, too.
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I'll send them along with the typewriter and record album...

OTD · Feb 8, 2008

Mizzougrad96 said:

Moderator1 said:

Hey, Mizzou, while I'm setting my VCR can you please look in your bag and find a mini-cassette or two I can borrow? Always a need for those, too.
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I'll send them along with the typewriter and record album...
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Do you have any acoustic couplers I can borrow?

wickedwritah · Feb 8, 2008

Moderator1 said:

Go in and play the Eddie Murphy bit to the young lads and lasses:
G
T
F
O

We had a very good intern at the TD last summer and I know he and his talented pals at Syracuse are concerned. It's sad because they're like us only younger.
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I'm concerned as Hell, but I really don't know what else I wanna do. I enjoy the rush of deadline every day, the ability to tell a relevant story, the ability to commiserate over sports. As much as I want to jump off the Titanic, I'm probably staying on it for a little longer.

Mizzougrad96 · Feb 8, 2008

There will always be a need for a Trash-80...

Pulitzer Wannabe · Feb 8, 2008

"If you love what you do ..."

wickedwritah · Feb 8, 2008

Pulitzer Wannabe said:

"If you love what you do ..."
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Which, as much as I bitch about it, I do. I worked for a year or so as a glorified secretary/call center guy. It was just as evil as working at the worst paper I've ever worked at.

Ben_Hecht · Feb 8, 2008

Mizzougrad96 said:

silentbob said:

Whenever I read "There will always be a need for newpapers," for some reason I think of the poor soul who once made rotary telephones, saying: "There will always be a need for telephones!"

Yes, newspapers will always exist in some form, but I don't think that's the point. With declining ad revenue, few people are going to be able to make a living in this industry. College students have nothing nothing to fear. They're the ones who will get all the jobs. Not because they're brilliant. But because they'll work for nothing.

The people who are sweating this are the 45-year-olds with three kids, a mortgage and an annual 2 percent raise, if that. They're looking at 20 years until retirement with little hope of making more money. Find a new career? At that age? Possible, but not easy. In 10 years, the college students will be in the same, if not worse, position.

As for the poster who wrote there will always be a need for sportswriters, that's true, too. But the definition of "sportswriter" has changed. These days, any Joe with a blog on his favorite team is a sportswriter. Hell, Rich Eisen wrote a book! What has Rich Eisen done in his career that people would want to read about? ... That's a thread for another day.
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There will always be a need for VCRs...
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So long as the greatest sports movie in history, Riefenstahl's "Olympia", is only available on videocassette . . .

Mizzougrad96 · Feb 8, 2008

Pulitzer Wannabe said:

"If you love what you do ..."
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You should still get the hell out before there is nothing left for you to do...

Sam Mills 51 · Feb 8, 2008

dog428 said:

Look at the profit margins. I don't give a shit what anyone says, a 28 percent profit margin like the one we had at our place last year is out-fuckin-standing. The guy running the local Texaco would go tap dancing through the parking lot tossing out $100 bills if he had that sort of bottom line. But in our business, what we get is a publisher who's acting like there's a fuckin' eviction notice on the front door and the lights are flickering.
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Of course the publisher is. Trends, dog, trends ...

Keeping up with the Joneses (not to be confused with the esteemed poster of the same name on this board) isn't easy. And while I don't ever want to apologize for a publisher, I'm quite certain the corporate sorts above them are putting enormous pressure on them to consistently lower costs or leave.

dog428 said:

Why? Because we're "not meeting our goals." WTF? The top five guys at Gannett (the company that owns "hard hit" USA Today) last year took home damn near $10 million in bonuses. So, somebody's meeting something.
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That's nothing. The jackass suits I used to work for sent us a proxy, asking the little minions how we wish to dole out bonuses. Mind you, none of us minions were getting a thing. Nothing for Christmas, almost nothing for raises - certainly nowhere near 3 percent - and no break on benefits. Gannett is a bunch of worms, but know that they're not alone on that front.

dog428 said:

Newspapers aren't going anywhere. There will always be a demand for the daily newspaper (whether it be in print or online). Always. People can't get local stories and in-depth coverage of local news anywhere else. They just can't. And no blog or eight-second local TV report is going to change that.
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No arguments there, dog. But people don't care to be informed. They care to be "wowed," overwhelmed by flashy graphics, told something with which they can impress their friends and colleagues. After all, isn't that what Gannett's complete bullsh_t treatment of stories in McPaper is trying to teach us.

All style, no substance. Hence why people are willing to read blogs or ingent eight-second TV reports and accept them as gospel. None of this reading anything to understand for yourself. Too old-fashioned. :

Fenian_Bastard · Feb 8, 2008

dog428 said:

I get so tired of hearing this "we're going under" bullshit from corporate newspaper folks. Fact is, if 90 percent of the newspapers were privately owned, you wouldn't hear a word about "the dramatic decline" in revenue and subscriptions.

Look at the profit margins. I don't give a shit what anyone says, a 28 percent profit margin like the one we had at our place last year is out-fuckin-standing. The guy running the local Texaco would go tap dancing through the parking lot tossing out $100 bills if he had that sort of bottom line. But in our business, what we get is a publisher who's acting like there's a fuckin' eviction notice on the front door and the lights are flickering.

Why? Because we're "not meeting our goals." WTF? The top five guys at Gannett (the company that owns "hard hit" USA Today) last year took home damn near $10 million in bonuses. So, somebody's meeting something.

Newspapers aren't going anywhere. There will always be a demand for the daily newspaper (whether it be in print or online). Always. People can't get local stories and in-depth coverage of local news anywhere else. They just can't. And no blog or eight-second local TV report is going to change that.
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Who let the dog out!
Well played.

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