On the outside now

My exit from newspapers was nowhere near as dramatic as Steven Smith's resignation from the Spokesman-Review, but I strongly agree with his sense of what we on the perimeter should be concerned about. Asked if there was any place for the old-guard newspapermen in the news world order, Smith said:

It’s absolutely not going to be like it was. It never can be. What I try to emphasize is that the values that are at the core of our calling, the Fourth Estate value, the defending the defenseless value, the telling people what we know when we know it value, holding up and honoring and perpetuating those core values ought now to be our mission.

I'm not out to save newspapers. It may not be possible to save newspapers. But it ought to be possible to save journalism.