Thursday, November 19, 2009

Volunteer journalists, the new wave

Liz Vozz who has done some good work chronicling the new world of journalism has this from yesterday. It's about how many out-of-work writers are working for free. It mirrors a little the post I put up yesterday about blogging.
Posted by at

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jim:

Well, not everyone can pull down a Newhouse-like $29.42 in a brand-new venture!

;)

Todd

19 November, 2009 16:51
Jim of L-Town said...

I'm not booking my next cruise based on my online revenue....

19 November, 2009 17:19
Jim of L-Town said...

Besides Todd, the overhead is very low...

19 November, 2009 17:20
Anonymous said...

Is Writing for peanuts? the article?

19 November, 2009 23:07
Jim of L-Town said...

Link fixed, thanks.

20 November, 2009 07:00
Anonymous said...

Volunteer journalism is part of the reason why I hope in 2010 to go into a medical training program. I love to write, but people who wear suspenders and who wouldn't know a gerand from a verb are making many of the bad decisions that've put us into this mess.

20 November, 2009 12:15
inky said...

Lou was dead wrong about the Detroit newspaper strike, but he's absolutely correct that the trend of having nonjournalists play newspaper reporter is insulting and destructive to the profession. When "citizen dentists" are doing root canals, then I'll buy into the notion that untrained displaced housewives, frustrated Lit majors and basement-dwelling trolls can be journalists.

20 November, 2009 15:45
Anonymous said...

Inky: Your analogy is so far off base, it's not even funny, but shows the J-school snobbery that was part of the problem. Would you like a list of Flint Journal former reporters, columnists and editors who despite their degrees were no better than untrained displaced housewives, frustrated Lit majors and basement-dwelling trolls"?

21 November, 2009 15:21
inky said...

Anonymous 15:21: Thanks for helping me make my point. Despite whatever personal beef you have with your "list" of former Flint Journal reporters, columnists and editors, the fact remains that The Journal and thousands of other papers were making money hand over fist until the advertiser-supported business model collapsed.

It is not J-school snobbery to insist that the people reporting and writing stories about the issues of the day are objective, have a basic grasp of how the world works, know the media's rights under law and understand and embrace journalism ethics.

23 November, 2009 11:41
Anonymous said...

@anonymous: i don't think inkster's analogy's off base at all. would you like me to tell you about some of the quacks i've dealt with in my lifetime? there are lots of doctors who lose their licenses because they're incompetent or unprofessional. i remember that doctor who was accused of feeling up women.

Face it: writing is hard work and even those with talent have to work hard to get better at their craft. i see lots of people getting published who aren't good writers.

23 November, 2009 12:38
Anonymous said...

J-school snobbery? Jeez, I guess we can add to that New Media snobbery and/or non-degree snobbery, huh? Yes, I'll bite: please post a list of Flint Journal former reporters, columnists and editors who despite their degrees were no better than untrained displaced housewives, frustrated Lit majors and basement-dwelling trolls? And you say "were", so I suppose everyone there now is Pulitzer material. Awaiting the list ... OK, I doubt Jim will allow such a list to be posted but perhaps the author of this comment will post an email address where we can send away for the list.

23 November, 2009 13:02
Jim of L-Town said...

As someone once said, the old journalism model was not perfect, but it was way ahead of what ever is in second place.

I don't think it's snobbery to want writers/journalists who write and report based on a standard of ethics and fairness.

23 November, 2009 19:03

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