3 ms·

That is absolutely brilliant. I hope the current fears over the demise of 'real journalism' are overblown, and that we never lose the news outlets who will bac

That is absolutely brilliant. I hope the current fears over the demise of 'real journalism' are overblown, and that we never lose the news outlets who will back type of work no matter what it costs.

eesmith 9y ago
You write "no matter what it costs" but the article points out they did have a limited budget. Remember, journalism in that era was funded by advertisements and classified. Facebook, Google, Craigslist, etc. have sucked out a lot of that money. Who pays the cost now? If you want this sort of news, if you think it's important, help pay for it. Get a subscription to your local paper, for example. I send $35/month to Democracy Now.
milesvp 9y ago
Sadly it's easy to do lots of things "no matter what it costs" when you're swimming in ad revenue. The demise of journalism is largely tied to the deep pockets being gone. Gone are the days of being able to afford to have a reporter working on a single story for months or years. If you want this kind of thing, you have to pay for it. Subscribe to newspapers you think are making a difference.
- digi_owl 9y ago
  More so than swimming in ad revenue, said revenue was funneled first and foremost to cover journalistic expenses, not dividends for shareholders. I have seen one too many newspapers be subject to a leveraged buyout, that then lead to the advertisement division spun off as its own company, and the rest left to rot.
  - dredmorbius 9y ago
    David Simon's lecture, "The Audacity of Despair", addresses this. Roughly mid-way through, I believe around 40 minutes or so. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nRt46W3k-qw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nRt46W3k-qw
danso 9y ago
> we never lose the news outlets who will back type of work no matter what it costs. In the end, it is about the costs. Great journalists rarely quit out of fear or apathy: - http://www.npr.org/2015/04/25/402160015/2014-pulitzer-winner-for-reporting-finds-a-better-life-in-pr http://www.npr.org/2015/04/25/402160015/2014-pulitzer-winner... - https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/pulitzer_prize_journalism_pr.php https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/pulitzer_prize_jou... - http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=92823594 http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?story... - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/563215/Village-Voice-cartoonist-quits-over-salary-dispute.html https://www.deseretnews.com/article/563215/Village-Voice-car...

That is absolutely brilliant. I hope the current fears over the demise of 'real journalism' are overblown, and that we never lose the news outlets who will back type of work no matter what it costs.

eesmith 9y ago

You write "no matter what it costs" but the article points out they did have a limited budget. Remember, journalism in that era was funded by advertisements and classified. Facebook, Google, Craigslist, etc. have sucked out a lot of that money. Who pays the cost now? If you want this sort of news, if you think it's important, help pay for it. Get a subscription to your local paper, for example. I send $35/month to Democracy Now.

milesvp 9y ago

Sadly it's easy to do lots of things "no matter what it costs" when you're swimming in ad revenue. The demise of journalism is largely tied to the deep pockets being gone. Gone are the days of being able to afford to have a reporter working on a single story for months or years. If you want this kind of thing, you have to pay for it. Subscribe to newspapers you think are making a difference.

digi_owl 9y ago
More so than swimming in ad revenue, said revenue was funneled first and foremost to cover journalistic expenses, not dividends for shareholders. I have seen one too many newspapers be subject to a leveraged buyout, that then lead to the advertisement division spun off as its own company, and the rest left to rot.
- dredmorbius 9y ago
  David Simon's lecture, "The Audacity of Despair", addresses this. Roughly mid-way through, I believe around 40 minutes or so. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nRt46W3k-qw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nRt46W3k-qw

danso 9y ago

> we never lose the news outlets who will back type of work no matter what it costs. In the end, it is about the costs. Great journalists rarely quit out of fear or apathy: - http://www.npr.org/2015/04/25/402160015/2014-pulitzer-winner-for-reporting-finds-a-better-life-in-pr http://www.npr.org/2015/04/25/402160015/2014-pulitzer-winner... - https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/pulitzer_prize_journalism_pr.php https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/pulitzer_prize_jou... - http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=92823594 http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?story... - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/563215/Village-Voice-cartoonist-quits-over-salary-dispute.html https://www.deseretnews.com/article/563215/Village-Voice-car...