My Journey Shows Trend

HARTLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — As promised, here’s my take on this week’s readings (feel free to post a comment, but it’s not required. Although sometimes, I'll incorporate blog discussions as part of other assignments here or offer extra credit, such as with the first post. … We'll keep the graded discussions on Blackboard):

Two years ago, I was in graduate school here and teaching two journalism classes with not much hope of finding a professional job in journalism because of the economy. Now thanks to the bet of AOL (which owns Patch) on hyperlocal journalism, I'm back to work for more than a year now. Part of the reason I got the position was because I've continued to upgrade my skills, especially in the digital environment where telling stories can be done through social media, audio, video and slideshows.

And I've needed those skills because my job really is several: I'm a reporter, an editor (I edit freelance copy and assign stories), social media producer and I'm my own administrative assistant (track budgets, mileage, etc.). Needless to say, this is more than a full-time job and has been admittedly stressful on my family life, although there is an advantage of being able to commute by walking down the stairs every day since I work out of my home. And, there's something rewarding about covering the community where you live. While I cover hard news, you also get to chronicle what makes an area special. The story above — which is something I didn't have the skills to do when I still worked The Flint Journal — is a perfect example:

Needing a balance of these skills is now quickly becoming the norm in many newsrooms, which is what the reading focuses on. While knowing how to report and convey a story remains the most important, journalists now need to be competent in how to produce stories over multiple platforms to find jobs. That's certainly true for newspapers, especially here in Michigan. The paper I worked for, The Flint Journal, ceased to be a daily newspaper. The Ann Arbor News closed with its parent company opening an Web-based publication called Ann Arbor.com. The Detroit papers have cut back their home delivery. Hundreds of employees, including journalists like myself, lost their jobs in 2009. With these changes, all the publications announced they are trumpeting their Web-presences to replace the print cutback. Accordingly, the now smaller staffs are seeking journalists who can do more than just write and report. So as Chapter 1 points out, a key ability will be able to recognize which stories will work best in each medium.

Most of these changes reflect the tough economic conditions of Michigan and the new reality that there will be fewer ad dollars to support print-based news organizations. Lots of business is still out there, but they are flowing elsewhere, such as through direct mail. Globally that means the prediction that the last newspaper will cease publication in 2043 might be a whole lot sooner. What it means for young journalists is that there likely will be fewer jobs to compete for, although if companies like Patch are successful, maybe the trend in job losses will finally reverse.

From a larger perspective, as pointed out in the readings, there's some concern that the cutbacks at newspapers will hurt our democracy because most online sites currently do a lot less original reporting. Web site providers say their growth will allow them to hire larger staffs, and that's happening at national Web publications, such as the Huffington Post (which also is owned by AOL) and Politico. Will we now see similar success at the local level? I'm right in the middle of how that question plays out.