April 7, 2008
200 Times Employees Told "See Ya!"
According to Slog, the Seattle Times is about to lay off 200 employees (at least 45 of them from the newsroom). As a friend noted, it's not entirely surprising. Print media far and wide are bowing to the evolution of demand for media. This Seattlest, for one, only ever touches a newspaper anymore if it's in a bin at our local coffeeshop. And, even then, it's to pull out the crossword. We get all our news online and reckon we're not alone.
Of course, this news comes the same day that the New York Times announced that blogging can kill you, leading us to worry about the future of the media. Budding journalists now have one of two things to look forward to: death or unemployment. Great.
photo courtesy of Seattlest Flickr user smastrong
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Personally, I'm one of those insufferable people who subscribes to the New York Times. The local papers I check for local articles daily online, but that's all.
I actually generally can't bear to read news online, I have no retention for it. And generally, blogs only have extremely short posts, which bore me to tears. I'm not a moron, I can handle 800 words+ articles. But as for the dismal future of journalism? Couldn't agree more.
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yeah i think there are two persuasions when it comes to news online: those willing to read long articles online, and those who aren't. i think there's no way local papers will ever totally die, but the amount of time they spend on the physical paper is bound to shrink substantially.
what's sad and unfortunate is that bloggers work for free (or waaaaay less than print journalists), which makes me wonder about how kids who go from college to pro-blogging or online journalism are possibly going to pay their bills.
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i for one need my news online and in print - always and forever. there's something about stepping outside my door each morning, picking up the newspaper, glancing over the headlines, and stuffing it into my work bag to read at lunch (when i eat lunch alone) that, in small part, contributes to my ever fluctuating amounts of sanity.
people are just freaking out about these bloggers' death because it's new/blogging is hip. not the first or last case of job induced stress leading to death.
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totally! i think a better, more specific story would be the amount of bloggers (ahem) who have developed annoying chronic tendonitis from typing all day.
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I will totally second that story idea Kim
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geez, but Frank Blethen said newspapers were cash cows?
Where's the love Frank? I thought everyone at Fairview Fanny was family? Are any Blethen's being laid off? A-hole.
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Couldn't happen to a more deserving newspaper!
Here's hoping the P-I, Stranger, and Weekly are next!
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"makes me wonder about how kids who go from college to pro-blogging or online journalism are possibly going to pay their bills."
Here's the news, Kim, they won't be able to pay. But then, if they were good at math and finance, they wouldn't major in the phony discipline of "journalism."
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Is there an official -ist policy against repeat trolls? I think I found one.