http://www.newspaperdeathwatch.com/2008/05/20/envisioning-a-bright-future-for-journalism/ Chronicling the Decline of Newspapers and the Rebirth of Journalism Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:06:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 http://www.newspaperdeathwatch.com/2008/05/20/envisioning-a-bright-future-for-journalism/#comment-1606 Brian Fuller Wed, 21 May 2008 04:56:32 +0000 http://www.newspaperdeathwatch.com/2008/05/20/envisioning-a-bright-future-for-journalism/#comment-1606 Marshall's point is spot-on. I remember a business-journalism job i had 20 years ago. I had the freedom to wander off for hours scouring local records and court filings in search of a good story. In the waning days of my last publishing gig in the B:B space, it was all about sitting tight and cranking it out. Cranking what out, you ask? "Content." We put flat screen TVs in our office this year. One is tuned to CNN; the other to MSNBC. You see the same coverage and interviews of the same quote-meisters every day. No one goes out and actually seems to button-hole people any more. Most of these quote-meisters are on the network payroll, right? Now that's not print, but the press to produce "stuff," even with fewer pages, finds us reading the same types of stories with the same types of sources. It's McNuggets for an increasingly intellectually obese population. P.S. What an honor to catch that no-hitter. I was on Long Island on business one night in 1996 and couldn't get any colleagues interested in going to see the Yankees. I considered going by myself but changed my mind. Dwight Gooden no-hit the Mariners that night. Arg. Marshall’s point is spot-on. I remember a business-journalism job i had 20 years ago. I had the freedom to wander off for hours scouring local records and court filings in search of a good story. In the waning days of my last publishing gig in the B:B space, it was all about sitting tight and cranking it out. Cranking what out, you ask? “Content.”
We put flat screen TVs in our office this year. One is tuned to CNN; the other to MSNBC. You see the same coverage and interviews of the same quote-meisters every day. No one goes out and actually seems to button-hole people any more. Most of these quote-meisters are on the network payroll, right?
Now that’s not print, but the press to produce “stuff,” even with fewer pages, finds us reading the same types of stories with the same types of sources.
It’s McNuggets for an increasingly intellectually obese population.
P.S. What an honor to catch that no-hitter. I was on Long Island on business one night in 1996 and couldn’t get any colleagues interested in going to see the Yankees. I considered going by myself but changed my mind. Dwight Gooden no-hit the Mariners that night.
Arg.

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