What WOULD it take for you to leave this business?

Portland's paper might be gone, there's layoffs in Raleigh, possible layoffs in Palm Beach, probable layoffs at Gannett, no raises at McClatchy, and Sam Zell has lost his company about $20 million a day --- and all that's just from the recent Page 1 posts.

In 1985, the average salary was a little more than $22K. Two decades later, some college grads with journalism degrees are making less than that. And don't forget about that memorable food stamps thread.

It keeps getting worse. Does any other site, dedicated to bringing people of one profession together, have a sticky on "Getting out of the business"?

So, put simply, good news in this business is about as hard to come by as $1 gasoline. Still, most journalists put up with it ... but, at what point, do you say enough's enough and get out of the business? Or wouldn't you, no matter what?

 

As soon as I find something else, I'm gone. I reached the jumping off point about six months ago.

 

McDonald's to stop running background checks.

 

The right buyout offer.

 

Leaving is easy; staying gone is much more difficult.

 

Ain't that the fucking truth.

 

A decent job offer.

 

That would leave me much better off than I am now.

 

Well, pretty soon a bad job offer may look good.

 

My answer is somewhere between sportschick's and mizzougrad's.

 

I remember reading about some paper offering employees one year's salary if they accepted a buyout. I'd at least leave for that much, and try to stay gone from the industry.

 

I don't ever want to get out of this business. I've been doing this for five years now, going on six, and I love it.

But the future absolutely scares the shit out of me. I'm afraid of the unknown. I just can't imagine doing something else for the next 50 or so years until I can retire.