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

[Cameron Laird]

I'm open to more inspiration, Howard.

In the meantime, I see considerable "rush to the bottom".  What's an
example of a vibrant market you observe?  What outposts are equipped to pay
for solid research and illuminating writing?

On Tue, Nov 5, 2019 at 9:14 AM Howard M. Cohen via Ipg-smz <
ipg-smz at netpress.org> wrote:

> Tom, perhaps you should read some Viktor Frankl. You ask how to "do it"
> and the answer is to always be developing your network. My postscript on
> every email is "the more good you do for more people the more good finds
> its way back around to you." I believe that, and I live by it.
>
> You mention twenty years ago a few times. Perhaps it would serve you more
> to look forward than back. I see new media channels opening up all around
> us. You just need to be willing to adapt to changing needs.
>
> To your last snarky comment I can only say that I am a full-time
> freelancer for ten years following thirty in the IT channel. When I say a
> vibrant, vital community I'm talking about professionals, not part-timers,
> hobbyists, or retirees. Not a one in the bunch. I feel badly for how you're
> feeling about our industry and hope you'd expand your thinking. If it's
> really as bad as you describe, perhaps its time for a career change. I'm
> still celebrating mine ten years later.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ipg-smz <ipg-smz-bounces at netpress.org> On Behalf Of Tom Geller via
> Ipg-smz
> Sent: Tuesday, November 5, 2019 12:21 AM
> To: ipg-smz at netpress.org
> Cc: Tom Geller <tom at tomgeller.com>
> Subject: Re: [Ipg-smz] Not the greeting I was expecting ...
>
> 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?
>
> ---
> Tom Geller  *  Writer & Video/journalist  *  http://tomgeller.com
>        Rotterdam, The Netherlands, +31 (0)6 87071468
>             Oberlin, Ohio  *  +1-415-317-1805
>
>
>
>
>
>
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