By time it is all said and done, chances are quite high that the current recession will impact every industry possible. A recent release from the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) warns that the storm is still coming for the journalism industry. In the last three months of 2008, 1,200 jobs has been cut across Canada’s media landscape. CAJ President Mary Agnes Welch suggests “When do we reach the point in Canada where so many jobs are lost that our news becomes nothing more than rewritten press releases? The decisions taken this fall will lead to more centralization of news in Canada, fewer opportunities for Canadians to learn from different voices and will threaten the very existence of quality local and investigative reporting.”
How to protect your career during a recession?
While nothing can guarantee your job during their times, being seen as an asset to your organization is certainly a smart move. One thing you might consider is to leverage social media to build a profile for yourself. It has certain helped Matthew Ingram as he was recently appointed Communities Editor at the Globe and Mail. While we all wait to see what that means exactly, Matthew’s pay cheque can still be cashed.
What is the future of journalism?
Journalists will have to be smarter about the content they write and more importantly be part of the distribution process. Personally, I didn’t pay much attention to Twitter when it first came out and simply set up an account and left it. One thing I did manage to do before boredom kicked in was set up my publications so that when I hit publish the content is pushed out onto my Twitter account. This has allowed for readers to get the content where and they wanted it Twitter has also become a powerful tool for the media as many traditional publications have started to leverage the service to expand the readership. A few writers have also become very active and are behind corporate accounts set up using Twitter. So to use the cliche of “Journalism 3.0″, they will have to take a more active role in the process. To just write a story will not be enough, they will have to get their hands dirty and use every possible tool to help push out their content, develop a community around the content or publication and then engage that same community.
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A controversial thought…. but I wonder if the very "web2.0" technologies that could save journalists during this downtime (eg. real-time twittering, in depth blogging, etc.) could be the same technologies that do-away with the need for journalism beyond "rewritten press releases" all together. n nTo be honest… other than the 'facts' (which in theory come from the press release… which I should be able to access through RSS or a press portal. The value add stories (insights, opinions, breaking news, investigative thoughts, etc.) I tend to find today through my own twiitter, RSS feeds, etc. n nThese are free…. so by posting valuable information 2.0 style, journalists, while simultaneously making themselves relevant and hyping their profile, might also be eliminating the need for me to "hire" them. n nWelcome to the wonderful world of Web2.0 and the New Economy…. If you have any complaints/comments, please stand in line behind the Music industry, the big 3 Autos, and even the IP-stolen/coding-outsourced tech sector.