'Black Wednesday' in Tampa

I think the most disappointing thing about Jessica's blog is that she and some of the other (young) posters there don't see that what newspapers are doing now is what's killing the industry. We want to be young and hip, they say, but what they really mean is pander to the lowest common denominator. What she doesn't understand is that accuracy, information, ties to the community, in-depth story-telling and a slew of other things that used to matter still means something to some "older" people in the business. So on her blog, some think it's petty to point out these young journalists' mistakes, such as writing layed off instead of laid off or there instead of their. But there was a time when getting those things right meant something. It's also harder for the higher-ups to fool veterans in the business, because they know when these people say we want to be fresh, innovative and have to do things in a new way, what they really mean is we want to pay less for less talent, and get news out there fast, regardless of accuracy or relevance. If that's the future of journalism Jessica is fighting for, I don't know that it's a battle worth winning.

 

Mr. Place:
If I could, I'd fetch you a beer. Excellent post.
Please post it on the young intern's blog. It's another chapter in her lesson book.

 

I believe Mr. Place is actually Ms. Place, and yes, it was an excellent post.

 

I agree. And, really, any idiot can say "let's be fresh and innovative" or "let's stress the Web site." But when you ask them the specifics of how they intend to make that work financially, they either have nothing or suggest something that just isn't going to happen, such as that moron from Europe who came on here and said newspapers ought to stop charging for archives. (Right. Even in the unlikely event that it would be beneficial long term, publishers are not willingly going to kill an easy revenue source in the short term.) Pressed on specifics, their reflex reaction is to say you must be old and stuck in a different era.

The newspaper as an add-on to the Web site? I think they are forgetting that the Web site gets almost all of its content gratis from the newspaper's staff and would have almost no content, and thus no traffic, without the dead-tree staff and the dead-tree advertising that makes that staff possible. The advertising revenue from Tampa's Web site might support a newsroom numbering approximately eight. The newsprint product is hurting bad, but people who think the solution is as simple as focusing on the Web site are out of their minds. Lose three-quarters of your revenue in one swoop? Right.

Yes, the answer is so simple an intern can see it.

What bothers me the most, though, is that the first newspaper where I worked full time was in awful financial shape in the early 1980s and lots of newspapers were folding at the time, big ones. They axed 13 reporters and copy editors one Friday night, a good chunk of the staff, most of them with experience (we are talking about a few years of experience; almost all of us were young). And of course those of us remained benefited by moving into those spots. But we took no joy in it, and if anyone kissed up to the bosses in order to keep their job or improve their lot, they must have done so privately because we didn't see it. And anyone who tried it would have been an outcast.

I hope the Tampa editor understands that having your ass kissed is not a compliment. Brown-nosers degrade themselves that way only when they believe it will work, so their targets are those whose vanity leave them vulnerable to such tactics. Baaaaarf.

 

Peytons Place:
My humble apologies if I made an incorrect assumption regarding your gender.
The compliment and suggestion still stand.

 

The extent of her bio on that site: Aspiring political journalist in a love affair with the Internet.

Jessica, protect your heart. Twenty-five years ago I began a love affair with newspapering.

 

Quibble, shouldn't it be "having a love affair?"
Copy editors, care to weigh in?

 

Sorry, all the copy editors have been layed off.

 

Ms Place,

Well said -- both here and on Jessica's blog. Hopefully you got to read my comment on her blog, which I believe was sending the same message.

Like I said to her, some of the angry venom spewed in her direction on the blog and right here should have come as no surprise to Jessica if she truly read what she wrote.

Unfortunately, looking at her comments on her Twitter page, it looks like young Jessica is more enamored with the fact that she was linked to by Poynter and that she's gotten over five thousand page views than she is interested in learning from some of us "old curmudgeons" as to why we remain cynical with upper management.

The cordial pat on the back she got from Miss Coats only helped inflate her ego even more to the point where she is now basically saying, "Oh, look at me. Everybody's talking about me and my editor loves me." And that's a shame because I was really hoping she would open her eyes a little and allow some objectivity into her brain.

 

Great point, Frank! How come so few of the windbags who run our operations now ever see through this tactic and, better yet, call the butt-kisser on it and embarrass the hell out of him/her? Sad to say, but they probably do not see through it and they probably are susceptible to it without realizing how weenie it makes them.

But then, we already know they're weenie from all their lofty decision-making that has gotten us to this point.

 

It's a holiday weekend.

How is an intern at the pool instead of sitting at the desk and making calls and doing the "fireworks" story?

:

Her Twitter posts, as was noted, shed more light on her attitude. "Look at me! All those hits! Love ya, editor!"

 

For so many of these eager young minds of tomorrow, things are in love with them, and not vice-versa.

About 10 years from now, whether she's a success or not, or somewhere in between, she's going to look back on this whole thing and realize she made a king-sized ass of herself in front of a lot of people. It's one thing to do it at the bar, it's another to do it in front of people you're presumably trying to make a good impression upon.