You'd know this if you read my blog.

Last weekend, Jeff and I were freelancing some exciting high school contests for the Globe. We took two girls basketball games in Boston because 1.) We needed the money, 2.) We could hang out with our favorite marrieds, Meg and Troy and 3.) It gave me a chance to go into the Globe to see the folks that I spent my formative journalism years surrounded by.

They of course were just as friendly and funny as they were when I worked with them for three-and-a-half years, and for my money, I can't imagine a more talented group of people running a newspaper sports section in the country. Which is why it makes me so sad that among the air of catching up, was this heavy feeling. It felt desperate. 

The newspaper industry is failing these talented people. Some of my coworkers would probably say these people failed the newspaper industry. I couldn't help but be struck by one of the exchanges I had while there.

I was describing my job, saying how it can all be done from home because it's entirely internet based, etc. etc.

I was asked, "So, when you left, that was like the start of this internet thing right?"

I left in 2006. 

Maybe that's not that ironic of a statement to people who have no stake in the future of journalism. But it's pretty representative of an industry so adverse to change and so unwilling to adapt unless it's "their idea." The newspaper industry is like your grumpy grandfather who thinks "this band U2 will never catch on." It's not that they don't get what's cool now, they don't even get what was cool 20 years ago. It's an industry that shuts out youth unless they can get it for 15 cents on the dollar. Why is it if a salesperson stops selling they get fired, but the same voices can hang around a newspaper for DECADES?

Being a journalism student now is like lining up on the edge of a cliff. Unless you can hop in your Delorean, you're probably not going to be able to find a job, no matter how talented you are. I have friends and former colleagues who are as talented as hell and can't get a real writing job anywhere. How could an industry survive that? 

The answer is, it probably won't. That depresses me as much as anything going on in the world right now. Journalism is VITAL. Journalism is information, it's entertainment, it's knowledge. One of my absolutely favorite things to do is go out to get lunch with a newspaper in hand. My coworkers in California used to tease me for it, but it was a head-clearing time for me. And I honestly don't think I'll have that opportunity in another 10 years. Maybe less.

Can newspapers survive entirely online? If it embraces its young talent, I think, yeah. That doesn't mean dumbing it down on Twitter, or reporting from the couch,  or an overload of opinion (which most people think blogs are). I don't think someone should report on the same beat for more than five years. There's no way you can keep the creativity, the passion, flowing.

 

If it embraces a return to storytelling and shakes up its visual presentation, it has a chance. If it comes up with a new way to force ad revenue and broaden readership, well, that would be the million dollar answer right? 

It's just flatlining right now. And I could feel those Globies wishing for just a few more good years. I don't know if they'll get that much. They're cutting back more positions as we speak. More good people laid off, another slash at the limb of a tottering industry. With so many great minds, how is this happening (other than the obvious "Greed" answer)?

Who knows. For now I'll just grab my newspaper and a bowl of soup and wonder why the person next to me would pass that up over staring into space.