Dec 4, 2011

Metamorphoses

When I began blogging in late 2007 it was to keep writing.

I was leaving the newspaper world of my own volition and wanted to keep my mind nimble and learn the medium that seemed to be at the heart of an increasingly fragmented media. I also wanted to stay abreast of issues that I might not otherwise come across being outside a newsroom.

The early content was a grab bag of politics, pajamas commentary, and occasional analytical pieces about changes in the practice of journalism. If a few dozen people decided to read the blog each month, all the better.

Then came the axe men.

Every few months the budget cutters came through the shrinking newsrooms and hacked away at what was left. It wasn't just about an industry in contraction that gripped me, it was that the ideals that were being trampled by mediocre businessmen addicted to the grubby impulse to make profit out of pink slips. It was a cheap and mindless time and I couldn't help but talk about it.

As axes gave way to buzz saws, and board rooms embraced bankruptcy, a choke of huckster visionaries started to form around the carnage. I felt compelled to do offer my best perspective on who was saying smart things about the future of journalism, and who was selling snake-oil remedies. It felt useful, even if most of my audience seemed more interested in using the comments section to vent than to bask in my wisdom.

Years have passed and I have moved into management at a public radio station. I don't have time to offer the frequency of updates necessary to keep the blog moving.

Instead, I'm going to take what I learned from in the last few years, including from work on this blog, to do my job better. I'll continue to write here and would appreciate hearing from my readers what they think should come next. But I won't be a reliable repository of job cut updates anymore.

Onward.

51 comments:

Anonymous said...

;-(

Gary Scott said...

The new chapter might be more interesting for all of us.

Anonymous said...

It's good to hear that you're going to move on and tackle different topics. There's a whole world out there, away from the crumbling world of print journalism.

Anonymous said...

Well, it looks like a vacuum is forming on news from the unhappy land of LANG. Any past or prospective screw-ees care to take up the mantle? (I'm neither and have no sources.)

John Clifford said...

It seems to be what is happening in the blogosphere (is that even still a word?). The local bloggers are losing interest or have moved on to the "social networking" realm.

I've enjoyed this blog and will continue to monitor it. It was one of the brighter spots in local blogging.

Thanks,

Anonymous said...

Thanks Gary for letting the anger be expressed. IO guess it final just got old. The people at LANG are in prison of hope as we all are waiting for the warden to pardon us.
Some advice to the LANGRY people is face your fears and channel the anger.

All the best and look forward to some content that can inform and make us better.

Erica Smith said...

"Axes gave way to buzz saws" is a great turn of phrase -- and sad and true. (Folks looking for newspaper job cut news, I'll offer my own newspaperlayoffs.com as a source.)

Gary, congratulations on the changes, good luck and happy blogging!

Leave 'em wanting more said...

Four or five years of unpaid time and effort, news, commentary and engagement ... Much appreciated, Gary, and best wishes in your new ventures.

Melissa said...

Thanks for the well-written, thoughtful and even-handed posts over the years, Gary. Good luck in future endeavors.

Edward Padgett said...

Gary my friend,

I’m sorry to see you go and hope our paths cross again where ever this may be, yet I understand the time consumed by blogging extremely well myself, and wish you the best.

Thank you for sharing all the information I would have never read, and also for linking my blog here, it was an honor.

I’m certain we haven’t seen the last of you, and look forward to what the future may hold.

Peace be with you,
Edward

Anonymous said...

listen people he's not leaving totally! I quote: "I'll continue to write here and would appreciate to hear from people who to discuss what comes next. But I won't be a reliable repository of job cut updates anymore."

We will just have to hear sad news about layoffs and cuts elsewhere, but this is a new chapter, one that might create more useful dialogue! Thank you Gary!

Anonymous said...

11:42 AM I think the people posting know that. With perhaps the exception of one post, I don't know where you got the idea that others think he's leaving for good.

Gary Scott said...

@11:42 am: I've already corrected the grammar in that atrocious sentence you quoted.

By the way, four people have left comments under non-anonymous names. That may be a record!

Mark Masek said...

Five!

Thanks, Gary, for your work on the blog, and for providing a forum for the exchange of information, as well as plenty of venting and whining. (And, yes, I did my share of both around here.)

Good luck wherever and however you land!

Stubbornly Anonymous said...

Take me with you.

Chris Moran said...

A prince among paupers, you Gary.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Gary for all the great posts. We will miss you and hope that Kevin Roderick will get back to his roots or that FishbowlLA will see that it has to do more than aggregate a dwindling number of aggregators. Best wishes at KCRW.

Anonymous said...

Is this another LANG cutback?

Anonymous said...

Can't be, this one is done with some thought and class.

Anonymous said...

you could just put up a generic post once every month that says "LANG management announced a bad idea this week" and everyone in the comments would explain what it is and why it's a bad idea. crowdsourcing at its best. also, you would still get the ad revenue from other people's work -- aggregating at its best.

Anonymous said...

sorry, once a month or once a week isn't enough for the clowns at lang.

Anonymous said...

Late breaking news... Ed Moss is out at SD.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. He probably made a pile of money on the misery of others and was a complete jerk to work for. Talk about a guy who accomplished nothing good in his tenure anywhere.

Anonymous said...

Ed Moss is a transitional senior management figure in the big collapse that started in 2007-08. He came to LANG still speaking the rhetoric of the previous five years: solutions, niches, special sections, consolidation, newspapers next. But the task was crunch it. It appears that Ed moss abandoned the solutions rhetoric when he went to San Diego.
He was not in control of cascading events, and he was not personally destructive. In better times, he would have been regarded favorably. Part of the resentment stems from kool ade drinking associated with the media news Newspapers Next vaudeville staged at daily news Santa clarity's plant in 2007, an embarrassing group stunt.

Anonymous said...

Amen on the group stunt. One of the biggest shams and time waster in the biz. You can call him a transitional manager or anything else you want, to most of us he was bad. You can drink the punch, do your job, make the cuts, but, be honest and open. People understand reality...they may not like bad news, but they understand it. Look at the people he has hired...not a spine among them.

William D. Singleton said...

You are and will always be the best Gary!

Anonymous said...

Gary, nice note from the mother of all buzz saws. And here I thought ol dino was not computer literate.

Gary Scott said...

Yes, no doubt that's the real Dean Singleton

Anonymous said...

As silly as a number of the comments posted here, including some of my own, I miss the bantering back and forth as well as the news of the industry. My guess is, many feel the same way. Not unlike your local newspaper not delivering any longer. You feel pangs of losing a bit of enjoyment. I miss the many characters we use to comment on. Dilbert was never better. I wanted to wish you Gary and the readers a Merry Christmas and a healthy and employeed 2012.

Anonymous said...

It's langs fault.

Anonymous said...

was there ever a doubt?

Anonymous said...

Hey you little butterfly, when you gonna post next

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Anonymous said...

Gary, report that the Whittier Daily News and Redland Facts are not publishing on MONDAYS after Jan 16. Circling that drain faster and faster BuhBye Lean Dean

Anonymous said...

This is the kind of crap the brilliant management team has done for years. Example one. Shutter the printing plant. Move the operation. Shut down that plant. Job out the printing. Example two. Reduce web width not one but multiple times and keep screwing with advertisers, readers, and by the way increase your costs. Example three. Stop delivering on Monday. Then go to Tuesday. Then go to Wednesday etc. Can anyone in the organization make a decision that makes sense? Sorry, silly question. Must be a lot of Whittier and Redlands news going to go uncovered...paleaaaaaaaase.

Al Tottering Over the Edge said...

Nonsense. There's little news in redlands and Whittier. Few people live there . You could cut Redlands and Whittier back go three or four days a week and no one outside of either would notice. The money saved could be invested in putting for sale signs on offices in San bernardino and Covina.

Anonymous said...

hey 2:41...reread the above comments...a little tongue in cheek me thinks. There is virtually no news there and the brains at lang haven't covered what is there for years.

Anonymous said...

Is this blog over with?

Anonymous said...

It appears Gary has left the building.

Anonymous said...

Gary...you might want to check out a few posts for bankruptcy in nevada and property in india...under editor leaving for tennessee.

Anonymous said...

hey ghosts in the machine. anyone heard any rumblings about ron redfern leaving Riverside?

HOA Accounting Companies  said...

It's good to hear that you're going to move on and tackle different topics. There's a whole world out there, away from the crumbling world of print journalism.

Anonymous said...

i for one miss the crumbling world of journalism and advertising. that was my chosen career when it use to be fun to sell space. things change and i miss the coverage.

Anonymous said...

My guess is that not many will see this since Gary has stopped posting, but, the latest retread by medianews or whatever they call themselves now is a giant joke. Ed Moss, the man who has accomplished so little for so many is rehired by this group of...insert your own phrase here. He doubled the online revenue at san diego...yep, from about 100 dollars to about two hundred dollars...I guess that is doubling. They were running so little, w? Doubling is still a failing grade. So Singleton was devastated when Moss told him he was leaving...guess why bankruptcy was the ultimate solution for the organization. Maybe he can revisit newspapers next in denver. Is this all newspapers have left to offer. Where is the talent, ideas, creativity, leadership, innovation etc.

Anonymous said...

Fred Hamilton, to pursue other interests my ass. Klunder has some tiny shoes to fill.

Anonymous said...

Three months Gary...any reason to keep checking for more? Or, is this the end of a ver entertaining site?

Anonymous said...

knock knock

F. Pine said...

Well, It has been almost 4 months.

Anonymous said...

Well, after many years of enjoyment, reading and posting, it appears all good things come to an end. I can't figure why this site is still up other than looking at other sites. So, thank you for the memories.

Anonymous said...

YO ADRIANE?

Anonymous said...

"I'll continue to write here." OK, I understand this is not your primary concern, or living, but, what does continue exactly mean? Should readers eliminate this blog and stop looking for continue? I enjoyed this blog, miss it, and hope it returns. Thank you for many enjoyable and informative moments. If it is over, please let us know.