Black Monday - Is this the worst day for print journalism?

oh. my. gawd. my heart aches and bleeds for you, gloves. all too often of late, i'm left without words to comfort. and i am seldom without words.

i've cried too much already today to shed any more tears. prayers i never run out of. many coming your way, fwiw.

 

May 30 is our last day. At least they're giving us a decent severence package.

 

My prayers are with you. I was let go in December. It took me about two months before it became easier for me to get out of bed again.

Hope things go better for you brother.

 

Best of luck to you, Two Gloves.

 

Very sad day for our profession. My heart goes out to all those who have lost their jobs.

Newspapers are on a downward spiril that just keeps feeding itself. When we have layoffs, it makes the product worse, which drives down interest, circulation and advertising dollars, which results in more layoffs. The bull crap about having more content and being better with less are mere slogans that have no basis in reality.

 

Agree with those who say it will only get worse.

shotglass' continued need to have his head in the sand on this issue was once maddening. Now, it's merely amusing. If recent events still have not stirred you out of the old "I'M Happy! Stop talking about THIS!!!!!" complacency, then I guess that nothing short of losing your own job will keep you from posting on these threads about how horrible it is that a bunch of journalists are discussing the state of the business they have given their lives to.

Sonner, I find it pretty ironic that you're here proclaiming a dislike for multiple threads that discuss what dire straits the newspaper business is in, and yet you were listed at the APSE site recently as having "taken a job outside the newspaper business."

http://apse.dallasnews.com/news/2009/mar/031909moves.html

So it's fine for YOU to be aware and attempt to improve your own situation, but God forbid the existence of threads that disseminate information that might shock someone else out of their own career uncertainty?

As far as I'm concerned, these threads are informative and helpful. Information linked and posted at this site helped me to hit my own eject button from newspapers some time ago. If you gentlemen don't like them, fine. But attempting to minimize the merit of discussing these issues only serves to hinder awareness.

Aren't you tired of "Post of the Year" candidates that deal with how individuals deal with their publication's final day? Is it not preferable to read more about people talking about the escape hatch they have taken, possibly as a result of news and views being presented on this site, by their peers?

 

Psssst ... Ryan. Don't sweat it. He had to step on you to get to me.

 

Amen to Piotr's thoughts.

 

MY superiority "fetish", shotglass?

(whoops . . .shotglass did a quick edit)

Are you really someone to be pointing fingers in this way? You troll around imploring people to be nice to each other, but it's OK for you to act like an asshole at will, right? This "superiority" is your standard MO; don't be pissed at me for calling you on it.

You ("YU!!!") make fun of a Japanese player's name in the WBC thread. Yay, it's so cute to make fun of names from different cultures. Hee hee, ha ha hoho. Clever, classy boy.

On these threads about journalism, there are real people talking about issues in the business. They care about their jobs, about their families, about their futures and the future of a business they love. It is catharsis for some, informative for others. And yet, without fail, you always show up to whine "WHY are we talking about this?! I'm happy where I am!!!!" Before papers in two major cities closed recently, it was so cute to see you bury your head in the sand, and implore others to do the same.

But now, it's a damn joke. Real people are losing their jobs, with more to come. But you just want to whistle along and attempt to stop these threads, these discussions.

Wake up, shotglass. The world outside your door is so easy to expand now, thanks to cable TV and the Internet. Pretty (and uncreative) phrases like "who pissed in your Corn Flakes" mean less than nothing when we're in a world in which a lot of people can't even buy Corn Flakes anymore.

I know, you ("YU!!!!") don't want to see anyone talking about it. Oh, you'll show up when dudes post about their dead papers, with your crocodile tears and expressions of "good luck." But when people want to spotlight the hard issues in journalism, you scream that it's just too darn negative.

I guess you really do prefer to see them with the "post of the year" candidates. And we can't have those if people have discussions that help them find other opportunities for themselves and their families.

Stop trying to hinder people's ability to help themselves and be helped, shotglass.

And as for Mr. Sonner . . . I stand by what I wrote. shotglass, I don't need to step over anyone to make my points.

 

Boy, that was more venom than anyone on here deserves. I'll stay out of your way, big fella. You just be sure to keep everyone else in line.

 

wow, guys, when tom petty says this, you know we're all going to hell, but lighten up.

 

Someone has some issues to work out, me thinks.