Wordsmith

It’s sad, but it’s true: There’s a dearth of serious print journalism in this country. Budget cuts have raped hundreds of newsrooms across the country. There is a lack of leadership from corporate headquarters on down. There are unqualified editors leading newsrooms — and unqualified reporters working for them. Ad dollars are down. The newshole in the paper is shrinking, even as journalists are asked to adjust to the round-the-clock news cycle of the Internet. Reporters and editors are asked to do more with less — and decisions that affect news coverage are increasingly made by publishers who’ve never even set foot in a newsroom, publishers who don’t understand why the tough questions must be asked.

Yes, it’s bleak. We report in a world where more people likely care whether Britney Spears went out without panties again last night than how many Americans were killed this month in Iraq and Afghanistan. But there’s still good work being done out there. There are reporters and editors who understand that this kind of work matters. You can find them at 3,000-circulation dailies. Or at papers whose circulation tops out at 100,000+ … these are journalists who understand the need to stand firm against corruption and good-ol’-boy networking, who know how to use a FOI request and carry a copy of their state’s Sunshine Law in their wallet or purse.

We’re going to talk a lot on this blog about what makes a good (or bad) journalist. We’ll talk about the state of the business. And we’ll try to formulate ways to retake control of the work we do.

So for those of you who are overworked, underpaid, angry and unhappy about the state of journalism — or simply your place in the world of the printed page — maybe we’ll remember what’s great about this work … why it’s worth doing. Why it needs to be done.