Angryjournalist.com is now so popular (well over 4,000 posts now) that they are offering a line of t-shirts (see one here). Just for comparison, Happyjournalist.com is now at 116 posts in almost the same amount of time.
Many of the happy comments are not so happy either. For example on Happyjournalist.com: "I’m happy because the news editor who has been pissing and moaning all week is leaving. Good riddance."
Doesn't sound so happy to me. And they are not offering t-shirts, at least not yet.
In addition to the "Angry Journalist" shirt they also have t-shirts that say the following: Print is dead - Journalists get laid (off) and -30-
A line of coffee cups and beer mugs is coming, the site said.
By the way, if you don't know what -30- means, you are showing your age and experience. Not a slam, just a fact.
So if you're looking for a gift for that special someone, go to angryjournalist.com (link is to the right).
I'd get one, but I'm neither angry nor a journalist anymore.
3 comments:
not a journalist? Says who?
think news of the impending death of print journalism is overblown. Television didn't kill radio, radio just adapted.
The growing pains print journalism feels reminds me of an interview given by Bill Thom, the owner of a Detroit-area record store chain, Harmony House, upon the closure of the chain. I had worked with him many years ago, and stores had gained a reputation of having knowledgeable staff members, and it was a great place to work.
Anyways, to make a long story short, (if it isn't already too late for that), Mr. Thom said that the cause of the demise of the more than 50 year-old chain was the internet. He couldn't compete with lower prices offered by sites such as Amazon, and too many people were downloading songs one at a time instead of buying a whole album that might only have a single good song. His overall tone suggested that the customers had betrayed him, as if they had done something wrong by dishonoring the fine service provided by his stores. He, like the whole recording industry, refused to adapt, and they are all still suffering for it. Instead of offering a website of his own, Mr. Thom moped that the world was changing without consulting him first.
Some papers will adapt better than others. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that The Flint Journal is going to be one of the better ones. People are going to use the web to find the news they care about, but great newspapers will provide information that the reader wasn't looking for, but is fascinated by nonetheless, and is left grateful for being shown. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, for example, will never be replaced by their online sites because whenever I go beyond the front page stories, I find several stories about things I never would have sought out online, but are extremely rewarding to read. When was the last time you found a story like that in the Journal? I go to the Journal to read seek out particular stories I already know a bit about, for the letters section, and some of the comics. I have never been plesantly surprised by an exciting article I didn't expect to find in the Journal.
That leaves the Journal with local coverage, which can't easily be replaced by online content. How are they going to do that if they are decimating their staff? Why is it, that when Pete Auger was still the City Manager in Davison, that I found more useful information at his blog (www.cityofdavison.org) than in any local newspaper?
The Journal is trying to adapt, but in odd ways. I love the opinion pages in any paper I read, but I really have no use for quotes from anoymous contributors to their website using psyeudonyms like "OOSL2". If they are going to cut editorial staff, I would rather see more guest columns from people willing attach a name, or nationally syndicated columns. These anonymous comments mean as much to me as one of those "person on the street" comments that television "news programs" use, that is, nothing at all.
-30-
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