Comments on: Why Journalism Matters

By: raincoaster

raincoaster — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:05:57 +0000

Kendall, for all that he’s old-skool, makes some valid points. News outlets have to give you the scores and the who-did-what-to-whom, but if they’re under the kind of budget cuts that most are in our current era, you can say goodbye to anything other than the basics. No fun stuff. Definitely no “Hey Rube.” If Hunter Thompson were starting out now, he’d be unemployable or, being a smart fella, he’d suck it back for a few years until he’d won the trust of an editor, which is exactly what he did, in fact.

If you want to see creative sports reporting, I think you’ll have to turn to somewhere the profit motive hasn’t been as ruthless, like blogs. Like this one: http://jonathantu.wordpress.com/2006/05/31/urban-meyer-introduces-new-leave-before-chris-leak-gets-on-the-bus-offense/
I don’t even LIKE football (don’t even know the rules!) but I always read this blog, just because it is so damn well-written. And is there money in it? Who’s gonna offer him a job when he doesn’t have a journalism degree?

I’m a columnist and established writer, but when I went looking for a staff position I was told point-blank that without a journalism-specific degree there was no company in any major market that would consider hiring me, regardless of my ability as a writer. Credentialim means you’ll only get people who’ve been through ONE kind of training, which means that you’ll get ONE kind of writing.

Corporations hate eccentricity.

By: Learn-English

Learn-English — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:05:57 +0000

Thanx for info

By: kiko

kiko — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:05:57 +0000

Hi Mark:

I really try hard reading all your posts, the sports and the business ones. I agree with many of your points about entrepeneurship, and like the way you tell anything you want…

BUT, please try to write shorter posts. I am sure you know that the internet and blogs have their own language, and one of the rules is writing concise, short articles/posts… Sure you have a lot to say, but sometimes it is too, too long, even for me…

Good luck in the Finals.

By: cnfalv

cnfalv — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:05:57 +0000

Some friends and I run a free-source news site called CRISPYNEWS.COM. It’s similar to Digg, but we’re enabling anyone who has a half-decent internet connection and passion on any topic to start his/her own community news site where visitors can vote, post and discuss the news that matters to them most.

By: prepaid phone card

prepaid phone card — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:05:57 +0000

Fine blog

By: Dave Wakeman

Dave Wakeman — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:05:57 +0000

Hi Mark:

You know, you point fun at the NY Times, but really the newspaper isn’t even mediocre any longer. Its much less than that.

As citizens, we should demand more from our media…

By: Kls

Kls — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:05:57 +0000

This is too much work for many of us, so we mostly read/watch news in line with our own political leanings — basically drinking the cool aid from the tap.

By: David Boland

David Boland — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:05:57 +0000

It doesn’t matter how good or bad the New York Times or any other newspaper is. Now, “fit to print” means nothing. The important thing is having the medium to be able to select which articles are important to an individual, and providing them with no spin. As a young person like many of my peers, I would like to see less of the generic sportswriting type questions being asked and be given a better understanding of the facts, muckraking or not.

By: Parker P

Parker P — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:05:57 +0000

Mark,

I totally agree. Give the youth the opportunity to participate. That is what we are doing at cell journalist. We allow people to send in news that is important to them. Images, Videos and complete stories of local and “breaking news” events. So far media outlets have been very responsive to this and we are excited about whats ahead

By: Tom Becherer

Tom Becherer — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:05:57 +0000

Kendall Anderson remarked that youth may not be all that well served by more youth. As a veteran of 40+ years in what I used to call “broadcast journalism” (but, alas, can no longer bring myself to do), I tend to agree. Not that I fail to see the value in having the perspective, insight and energy of a youthful staff but I hold there is something to be said for having a few greybeards around. We’ve seen it. We’ve done it. We’ve made some gawd-awful mistakes that need not be repeated. The best journalism education I ever received was in my first paying job at the knee of a crusty St. Louis Post-Dispatch copy editor who spent his evenings with this young UPI staffer, teaching him the ropes – even though it wasn’t his job and he certainly wasn’t being paid for it. I am forever in his debt for helping launch my wonderful career.