Wordsmith

Sorry for not posting the last two days. I’ve been promoted (and hence have to move. Again.), and I had a road trip to see if I can find some housing.

In my travels, I got to talk to a young reporter who is just starting to learn her craft. She’s working at a small paper — er, a “community paper” — and it’s interesting to see her perspective. As the journalism world moves kicking and screaming toward the digital age, newspapers are asking their reporters to do more and more. Reporters at small papers don’t just write anymore. They take photos, shoot video, blog and update Web sites.

All that for $10.50 an hour in some places. Are you kidding me? One thing that journalism must work on. I realize that many newspapers are losing circulation. But we’re also not paying our people nearly enough. That means that many times we’re getting underqualified, poorly-trained people as reporters. And the state of journalism is such that those people often move up into management positions. That’s a fatal cycle if we’re not careful.

The young reporter I was talking to is unique in that she still seems to have some enthusiasm for the job, even though she’s been overworked for several months. We talked about the Web, and its usefulness in breaking stories. We also talked about how some Web sites don’t have to do the “due diligence” necessary to report a news story.

We also talked a little bit about “owning” issues in the paper — making your newspaper THE source for information on certain issues. That’s a topic for another day, though. I’m going to go enjoy a rare weekend away from the office.