December 16, 2008

The final cost-cutting measure for a free press?

Blogger Jim Carty has the story of what one Journal Register Co. paper in Michigan is trying to do -- teach its readers to be its reporters, and get them to do it for free.
Good luck with that concept.
As someone who actually works with aspiring journalists -- many of them quite talented -- I can assure everyone that it takes a lot of time and effort to make sure their stories are done well. The idea that anybody can be a journalist is, frankly, stupid.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The idea that anybody can be a journalist is, frankly, stupid.

Anonymous said...

nudge of a comment in this week's New Yorker.

Anonymous said...

The diverse viewpoints represented would be a positive.

Anonymous said...

In reply to Pot / Kettle - "Stupid is as stupid does" my momma always said - - Today, we live in a world of Reality T V and it is Very Popular and cheap to produce. Everyone has cell phone cameras and email comments frequently. So rather than have No Press, it would be smart rather than stupid to have the people on the street do the reporting - which in Reality, would only be of slightly less quality than what we are used to at present. The title of journalist in no way applies to The Bristol Distress !!