There have been a couple of things lately to remind me that the more things change, the more they stay the same. First, there’s my new-found fascination for rock band Cage the Elephant, a crew of twenty-somethings who crank out the dirty blues like Led Zeppelin did back in the day.

Next is a New York Times article on Victorian-era postal service. In those days, people mailed whole newspapers as a way of sharing current events without having to compose anything original. It was social networking before the advent of the Super Poke or the fail whale.

Finally (and most relevant to this blog) is this Times profile of Paul Smalera, a 29-year-old former print journalist who’s had to hustle, self-promote and network to earn his daily bread in the freelance world. The article, written by Smalera’s former colleague at Condé Nast, laments the loss of steady-paying journalism gigs and the even greater loss of youthful idealism:

“Assessing his next move, [Smalera] knew that magazines and newspapers were not options — they were almost all shedding staff, and people with far more experience than he had were looking for work. ‘The Web was the only place I was going to go,’ he said. ‘I decided that without the heft of a big print magazine pushing my work out there that I needed to push it out there myself, and make sure that people who might be interested saw it.’ He entered the sea of tiny cutout heads broadcasting thoughts and opinions all day online. He tweets; he has an e-mail list; he posts links to his articles.”

Well, here’s a newsflash for Smalera and (more importantly) Sheelah Kolhatkar, who wrote the article: Get used to this kind of life. Entrepreneurs have been doing the hustle forever, with no expectation of healthcare, dental coverage or a 401(k). Now mainstream journalists, long sheltered from the bottom line, must do the same if they plan to eat and keep a roof over their heads.

I won’t begrudge new entrepreneurs their learning curve — I’m still trying to get over mine. But this mourning for the loss of traditional journalism jobs must stop. That game ended years ago, and all the whining and technological innovation in the world isn’t going to bring it back.

Of course, not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But without a monumental shift in how mainstream media operates, an entrepreneurial mindset is the only thing that will keep reporters and journalists from fading into unemployed oblivion.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Stephen Poff.

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