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 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 frequent updates necessary to keep the blog moving.
Instead, I'm going to take what I learned 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.
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