But no, really, what's the future of this profession?

Not for much longer. Really.

 

That was a once-weekly alternative paper, though, for clarification's sake.

 

Thanks. I was thinking it was a student paper.

 

Maybe with a top sports beat they are enthusiastic about working long hours. Not in the other departments of the newsroom. People today are working less and less and less. Young people don't last a year at an aggressive newspaper because it's too much work for way too little pay. They figure it out and get OUT.
I disagree about the 40 and up crowd being of no use. The 40 and up folk will be needed as long as there are still copy desks and page layout assignments to fill. No young people will take those jobs -- awful hours, very little pay.
As far as you being a financial liability, of course they'd prefer you quit so they could save 10 grand. You must be productive and nice to have around, but trust me, if they really start to NEED to see that 10,000, you are gone.

 

If you're under 35, why the hell would you take a copy desk job? When I was in school, many of us were steered that way -- overall, we made less money but there was more perceived security. If we'd only known better.

 

The blatant ageism not only in this thread, but this board in general, is really disheartening. You ever think that, hey, maybe it's time to pass the torch and quit complaining that the industry isn't what it was 10, 20, 30 years ago? Things change. Shit, everything changes. Either roll with it or move out of the way.

 

Lulz.

 

So why do you want the torch?

 

Ageism? No. Congrats to the young pups. The three I mentioned all do a great job. All I'm saying is that the days of starting off small and working your way up to a big paper are over. If you don't get in early, you're not getting in at all.

 

On the plus side, now you will know you get to figure out what to do with the rest of your life at 27, rather than when you have to worry about a wife, kids and a mortgage.

Think of it like minor league baseball. You can do it until they rip the uniform off of you, but understand that it's not a good thing to be the oldest person in the newsroom/on the team.

 

I wouldn't say more security per se. But a couple of decades ago a good desk person with only a few years under his belt could pretty much write his ticket and work for almost any paper in the country that he wanted to. That was very comforting.