Dysharmonic convergence
So I pick my Sunday paper off the porch (the image isn't as unpleasant as seeing Tony Soprano in his boxers and bathrobe), and the headline greets me: "Are newspapers sinking?"
Yes, every industry is suffering in this awful economy - but the news industry's troubles seem destined to be fully chronicled, since we're all writing about ourselves. We read Jim Romenesko's blog for updates on which papers are firing people or giving up the ghost entirely - right now we're waiting to see when the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will announce its demise.
(That said, the Tribune's Paul Beebe presented a thoughtful and surprisingly non-paranoid analysis of the national newspaper situation - and another about how Salt Lake City's papers are dealing with it. My colleague Vince Horiuchi also weighed in with a story about what Utah's TV stations are doing to counter declining audience numbers.)
Digging further into Sunday's Tribune to find happier news, I find The Mix section - where my colleague Ben Fulton has a story about how cash-strapped arts organizations are getting as creative in their fund-raising as they are in their art.
Things are tough all over, and I happen to be at an intersection where two of my passions, newspapers and art, are both suffering at the same time. The good news is that through adversity comes innovation, and both newspapers and artists are learning they have to get innovative in a hurry - or else.
Yes, every industry is suffering in this awful economy - but the news industry's troubles seem destined to be fully chronicled, since we're all writing about ourselves. We read Jim Romenesko's blog for updates on which papers are firing people or giving up the ghost entirely - right now we're waiting to see when the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will announce its demise.
(That said, the Tribune's Paul Beebe presented a thoughtful and surprisingly non-paranoid analysis of the national newspaper situation - and another about how Salt Lake City's papers are dealing with it. My colleague Vince Horiuchi also weighed in with a story about what Utah's TV stations are doing to counter declining audience numbers.)
Digging further into Sunday's Tribune to find happier news, I find The Mix section - where my colleague Ben Fulton has a story about how cash-strapped arts organizations are getting as creative in their fund-raising as they are in their art.
Things are tough all over, and I happen to be at an intersection where two of my passions, newspapers and art, are both suffering at the same time. The good news is that through adversity comes innovation, and both newspapers and artists are learning they have to get innovative in a hurry - or else.
Labels: economy, journalism
