Comments on: Stay classy, journalism!

By: A Positive Approach At Our New Local Online Magazine « Trying not to BNeg

A Positive Approach At Our New Local Online Magazine « Trying not to BNeg — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 21:06:15 +0000

[...] or if you get the most hits. Sadly, this means you’re in competition with your fellow writers. As stated on one of my favorite new blogs, The Hyperlocalist, let’s hear a big “amen” for not writing [...]

By: Jennifer Deseo

Jennifer Deseo — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:02:10 +0000

The 24-hour news cycle certainly has made crap out of journalism, but online news isn’t totally hung up on that. If there are no “breaking” or “developing” stories to post, editors just change the lead photo or tweak the headline to make it appear like there’s a new post.

By: Laryssa

Laryssa — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:19:59 +0000

I agree with “…equated dirt-cheap “filler” journalism — the fluffy kind performed for “exposure” or some pittance of a fee — with empty calories. That kind of content fills pages but offers nothing to local, state and national conversations and devalues quality journalism.” However, the problem with digitized news is that readers expect content ALL THE TIME, hence the death of the periodical, which I discussed in my blog post today. The awesome thing about print newspapers is that the content isn’t on 24/7, and readers expect less filler.

By: Jennifer Deseo

Jennifer Deseo — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:39:58 +0000

Thanks, Wombat. Good points on TAs and other grad students who cut their teeth in apprenticeships. In my opinion, those people deserve fair pay too, something commensurate with their experience.

But a newsroom of underpaid apprentices isn’t fair to anyone — the apprentice, the news consumer, journalism in general. The only one who benefits from cheap labor is the publisher. And it’s my opinion that publishers don’t always place quality journalism high on their list of priorities.

By: wombat

wombat — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:56:34 +0000

I think it’s important to separate students from other sorts of contributors. Graduate students in all sorts of fields work (eg as teachers and research assistants) for less than the going rate, because some of their compensation is non-monetary – they need that experience and those publications to get a real job later. There are some skills in which an apprenticeship period is necessary. It’s unrealistic to expect full compensation before you’re fully qualified, but also, there are some things you can’t learn just by sitting in a classroom listening to someone else talk.

And yes, I know that some graduate TAs in those other fields feel their situation is also unfair. But speaking as someone who has been on both sides of the arrangement, when it is done right, it works. The students leave school with a degree and a record to build a career on, aside from the money they were paid. They’re ahead of their fellow grads who don’t have that experience.

Of course, if the students running these sites are learning that they should expect the ‘citizen journalists’ to work for free… that’s another story.