Tuesday, April 28, 2009
I'm on your internet, starting my own news site...
Wow...I won't even shame myself and guess how long it's been since I last contributed to Ten95, but I would like to apologize to my blog-mates and our readers for my absence. The stress of my job and life is no excuse to leave you guys hanging, so fear not, I'm back with something relevant to all of our interests.Spchrist posted a link to this article on the YBJ listserv this morning, highlighting 40 Newark Star-Ledger employees who banded together after layoffs and buyouts to create their own news website, NewJerseyNewsroom.com. I can see and hear the lightbulbs going off above several readers' heads as I type.
While the staff of New Jersey Newsroom can rely on their buyouts to keep their bills paid, they are, as the article suggests struggling to make money (aren't we all?). I still believe this is a good idea, because ultimately, we can't sit around waiting for the economy to turn and the top-heavy management in the nation's newsrooms to return to a sense of normalcy.
We all are aware that the internet and multi-media journalism is where everyone and everything is headed right now, so why not take our futures into our own hands by creating our own websites and going for what we know? My mother always says "nothing beats a failure but a try." And we owe it to ourselves to try and stay relevant and up to speed in the fast-paced industry we currently work in.
I felt a sense of "why not" when I read this story, believing that there is room on the internet (and trust me there is PLENTY of it) for credible journalists who want to bring the news to folks may not be as keen as walking to the newstand and picking up a newspaper anymore. I might be more willing to try this because at 27, I'm fortunate enough to be single and childless, which basically means, I am my own responsibility. I can't speak for anyone else who may not share the same situation.
All I know is there is hope for us all. We just have to have the courage and conviction to adapt to it and embrace it. The staff of the New Jersey Newsroom are already off to a good start in that respect. continue...
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