Archive for April, 2009
It always seems like you’re alone in the center of a storm
The news that the Chattanooga Times Free Press is laying off 15 newsroom employees elicited a response from one of my younger colleagues: “We’re dropping like flies!”
It surely seems that way sometimes, but then you have to consider that on the same day there was the following headline and story on TheDailyTimes.com:
Johnson City snowplow plant to close
01:13 PM – A Wisconsin manufacturer will close a plant that makes snowplows in Johnson City next year, costing the region about 100 jobs.
The often overlooked truth is that we are not alone in this faltering economy. It’s just that when you are in the center of the storm, it always seems like the rain is only falling on you.
Over the nearly 30 years that I’ve been professionally employed in this business, there have been recessions, newsroom cutbacks and the slashing of newshole — and those are just the challenges that come quickly to mind. What makes this economic downturn different is the impact from cultural and technological shifts that are occurring at the same time. The tectonic — or maybe we should say “techtonic” — plates are shifting beneath us and many newspapers are trying to build an earthquake-proof house while the ground is still shaking.
It’s difficult, to be sure. Only a fool or a liar, or maybe even a lying fool, would say it’s not scary. But only the most naive among us entered this business believing that it was immune from economic influences. The only thing most of us can do is strap ourselves to the most stationary object we can find, and hang on for the ride.
I don’t often find myself quoting Friedrich Nietzsche, but this one seems relevant: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”