Newscoma

We are changing in news. The bottom line has always been the same though. It comes down to money. There are some of us who still like putting on the symbolic invisible fedora and talking to the people over a coffee or a beer about what they think is important. I take it back, news hasn’t changed really. News is about emotion and passion. It’s about being informed. In many ways, it’s about life.

If you follow me on Twitter, I put an A.P.B. out today looking for new employment. Mine is shaky at the moment and that’s why I’ve been on edge even here at this blog for several months now. I don’t know where I’m headed but I have come to the conclusion that I can’t sacrifice my health and my spirit anymore. Salaries, including mine, have been cut to the point that when your quality of life is in jeopardy, you have to know when to move on. As I’ve said before, my ideas have been dismissed. I guess that’s why I blog.

And I read this post this morning and I have to tell you, I cried. Cried like a baby. Tears rolled down my cheeks mainly for the reason that I knew for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t alone. Howard Weaver hit so many things on the head that I can’t even begin to give his lovely post justice.

There’s no denying we have been gravely wounded by the end of our industry’s monopoly advantages, and those wounds are deeper still on account of the devastating condition of the national economy today. I certainly have not always reacted correctly or with due speed to the nature of the changes, and our whole industry has – to varying degrees – been overtaken by the speed and scope of changing consumer habits; we need to move faster in reshaping some of what we do.

And while it’s true that ensuring our future requires sophisticated selling, steadfast, adaptive management and steely resolve, the future is really all about the newsrooms.
Nothing else we do as a company means much if we fail to sustain our public service journalism. The McClatchy family has not persevered into the seventh generation in order to publish successful brides magazines, or websites with comprehensive nightclub listings. We labor not to ensure we can create new blogs for pet owners, or rich vertical online sites devoted to vacation properties. All of these and much more are essential, of course, because public service journalism is an expensive proposition, but we must not take for granted the capacity or elasticity of our newsrooms.

Let me close and say farewell in gratitude.

You see, you really can’t have news without your newsroom. You can’t overtax your reporters to where they hate coming to work. That one line: ” … we must not take for granted the capacity or elasticity of our newsrooms.”

My job search has gone public today although it’s been going on for several months. Resumes have been put online. I do not know what the future holds for me but I also am going to walk into the fear of the unknown. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’m going to plow through it like I do everything else. I don’t know if it will be in news. I also know that it most likely won’t be in Hoots, which is also sad.

Farewell Howard. You aren’t alone.