[Ipg-smz] Not the greeting I was expecting ...

[Tom Geller]

On 5 Nov 2019, at 08:01, Howard M. Cohen via Ipg-smz <ipg-smz at netpress.org> wrote:

> many of us have changed who we write for

If you write for a vendor, are you a "journalist"? Open for debate, but I'd say "no", and my comments here reflect that. Certainly the consensus answer was "no" twenty years ago.

> Ours is a vibrant and vital community.

Arguing against that:
* Far lower freelance rates, down over 75% from the 1990s.
* Far fewer staff positions, probably down over 90%.
* Far less care and oversight (copyeditors, managing editors, etc.). Again I'd say 75-90% shrinkage.
* Far fewer publications, so less mobility.
* For less exposure from each piece (shorter pieces, in the public eye for only days or hours).
* Far less publication revenue from our work, causing all the above.

I'll grant that it's a "vibrant and vital community" -- of part-timers, hobbyists, and retired folks looking to stay busy (*ahem*). But for only a tiny number is it a profession nowadays.

It's nice work if you can get it. And if you get it, won't you tell me how?

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Tom Geller  *  Writer & Video/journalist  *  http://tomgeller.com
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