Back on the Crab-Ode to Journalists
Filed Under (Business) by admin on 02-07-2008
Tagged Under : cutbacks, Newspapers
Since I have a bit more time on my hands these days and now not forced to eye any certain channel, I’ve been having fun exploring other networks and their signature programming. Once such program that has become my guilty pleasure is Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch.” I had seen a couple episodes before, but now thanks to DVRs Sig, Edgar, Jonathan, Andy, Phil and the others can come into my home every day. And I’m having a blast learning about crab fishing and witnessing the rigors of the job. As I watch them day in and day out weather horrific conditions to do what they love to do, I can’t help but get a ping of jealously and envy. For I yearn for that same feeling when you love what you do.
I LOVE working with reporters, journalists, critics and photographers. Yes, I also like working with bloggers, but there’s nothing like working with a reporter and being a part of a story that a) forwards one of your company’s recent good works or b) uncovers something that needs to be exposed. I have a deep respect for journalists and have been privileged to have been able to work with some of the industry’s best. I have learned a great deal from them and understand their importance in our corporate ecosystem. We need them to keep us “accountable!” Do you think Watergate would have ever been exposed if The Washington Post journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward were not on the scene?
I can only imagine how the “powers that be” would run a muck if reporters were not keeping an eye on their businesses endeavors. Once such reporter who is tapped in and helps to keep the industry honest is Nikki Finke. Her blog is called Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily. I highly recommend you adding her site to your RSS feeds if you haven’t done so already.
But the inspiration from today’s post came as I was reading Romensko…my heart sank once again for my journalist comrades. Look at these headlines.
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Los Angeles Times to cut 150 newsroom jobs, reduce pages Los Angeles Times
- And according to the LA Times article listed above last week hundreds of staff reductions were issued by newspaper dailies in Boston, San Jose, Detroit, Baltimore and Hartford.
UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I do have to say that there was one cheery story for some reporters and you’ll never guess who was behind this bright spot. That’s right. News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch.
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News Corp. decides against selling Ottaway Newspapers Associated Press
Mr. Murdoch has decided to keep a string of 8 dailies and 15 weeklies that are in seven US States as part of the Ottaway chain, thus quelling any queasiness there for awhile about being sold. These stories are becoming more and more rare…so I did have to mention that the glass isn’t as empty as it feels.
I know were getting ready to honor our freedoms with the upcoming holiday, but I have to admit in the economic overview right now…the picture is getting a bit darker. You see due to the downturn in the housing market, the rising cost of gasoline, newspaper cut-backs, airline consolidation, declining car sales, less travel - more and more people are being laid-off. And there are fewer jobs to jump to! It’s getting harder to do the things that you love to do or be a part of a business that you love! And the industry is facing another STRIKE! Egad! Where’s Hancock when you need him?
I’ve been hearing from some that they feel it serves the newspaper industry right that they weren’t prepared for the evolution of the web. Yeah, maybe not. But, I haven’t heard or read how the Internet can make the same money as TV or newspapers yet. This is still so new that I don’t think anyone, Sam Zell included, could have built a business model ten, five or three years ago let alone now. You see with this new transition, there’s just no new infrastructure to jump to and we’re all learning from each other on how to get BACK ON THE CRAB. (Back on the Crab is the expression the “Deadliest Catch” crew uses when they have been in a dry spell and hopelessness sets in. With one pot on the string full of crab, their moods become euphoric, the day is new and all’s good in the world.)
May I say this for all of us feeling this way. WE WANT TO BE BACK ON THE CRAB TOO!
The photo above is an example of a bountiful pot of Opilio crab. That pot was full and will bring them over a thousand dollars. The painstaking work becomes less harrowing and glee fills their hearts. It’s the same feeling reporters get when they still get to report on their beats without worries about space or budget cuts!
I best close this post, but I wanted to include Times Publisher David Hiller’s rationale for the cuts:
“We want to get ahead of the economy that’s been rolling down on us and get to a size that will be sustainable.” He said the size of the reductions was predicated on the expectation that the economy would “bottom out and reach equilibrium” early next year.
Gosh I’m with you Mr. Hiller. If you have some information that we don’t and you think that the economy will reach equilibrium next year, that’s music to my ears. I just want us all to get back to what we do best without worry about loss of our jobs and so I can tolerate a few more months. For I do understand that like fishing…we have no control over life. Some pots come up empty…but when they don’t we’re BACK ON THE CRAB!
Keep up the good fight.
Your Deckhand
Cindy
P.S. I’m adding this historical film clip to serve as a reminder of the power of the press and the necessity for them in life.
To set the clip in the proper context, the clip is from Oct. 26, 1973 and was days after the “Saturday Night Massacre.” According to Wikipedia, “Saturday Night Massacre” was the term given by political commentators to U.S. President Richard Nixon’s executive dismissal of independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox, and the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus during the Watergate scandal on October 20, 1973.
