I feel bad for the journalists inside the NYT, the WSJ and Washington Post trying to do excellent work in spite of leadership decisions and terrible op-eds that undermine those ongoing efforts
I cannot imagine the mental load of the investigative teams reporting on stuff like the Wagner Group, the legacy of residential schools or ongoing databases on mass shootings while a British guy with the nicknamed "Rat Boy" is finally deemed a bad fit for the top job
Do you know the job market in these states for journalists? The lack of resources for investigative reporting? The hostility against immigrants? Do you know what it's like to be a journalist of color in a small town, where people ask someone like me if I know how to speak English?
People don't know I worked in a Northern Canadian town of 20k people with no 911 service and left after less than 10 months because my mental health deteriorated so quickly a counselor strongly advised moving home to Toronto
It all fucking sucks but it feels like journalism is as essential as social work, most people will be underpaid and mistreated and I wish we lived in a first world nation that paid people a living wage
Years ago I went to a hackathon (though they couldnt call it that, given the then-recent phone hacking scandal) hosting by the news side of the WSJ, and the reporters felt that acutely. And this was years before the pandemic.
As long as they stay, they are implicitly supporting those decisions and op-eds.
Many excellent journalists are discovering and creating new ways to do their work. If they would band together - readers would support them.
There are appalling papers in the UK. You get folk attempting to justify working for them and personally, well here's my take:
There are other jobs. Leave.
You have to make your choices and own them.
Every journalist of color I know thinks about other jobs. The job market is abysmal, not just in the media industry. Your take is easier said than done. You won't even publish this opinion under your own real name. Have a nice day.
That is my name.
Listen, I no longer work in the career I had. I made a choice. I now work as a carer. Do not tell me anything about choices and how difficult they are.
Sadly, as terrible op-ed's (and editorials, too) continue to drive loyal subscribers away, those very same excellent journalists will be the ones to pay the price, along with journalism itself - not the horrible leadership
Do you know how bad the job market Is for journalists right now, even mid-career and technically skilled ones? How many of those people are struggling to pay for increases in the cost of living or hold on after multiple waves of layoffs? How many want to resign or find a new job but can't?
