The thrill is gone

How bad can it get? Apparently plenty, as Gannett Co. announces it will cut up to 2,000 more jobs in the coming week. That's in addition to the 3,600 other positions already lost. On a lesser scale, the St. Paul Pioneer Press continues to shed jobs from its incredibly shrinking work force, and Freedom Communications (Orange County Register) boss Burl Osborne (formerly of the Belo's Dallas Morning News) announces across-the-board paycuts of 5 percent. (I wonder what ol' Burl is getting paid after the cuts?)

And my friends wonder why I took a break from blogging about the business.

But the time off has led me to reflect on my three decades in journalism. In particular, it has led me to reflect about those incredibly long hours at my first job, a weekly in northern San Diego County that no longer exists.

We had a tiny staff - three news reporters, a photographer a graphic artist and an editor - and the pay was shit. $150 a week, if I recall correctly, which came out to about $2.50 an hour. But I was young and couldn't believe people would pay me to write. Reporters never hesitated to ask for or offer suggestions on how to phrase a sentence, paragraph or story. We never worried about being criticized for taking chances. And we never thought twice about our commitment to the profession.

Paying rent, buying gas and eating even the basics was sometimes a challenge on a salary that paid less than the minimum wage, but it didn't matter. We loved our job. We loved what we did. And we dreamed about the future.

Today, with the future very much in doubt, I often find myself wondering if the thrill is gone.

Bummer

It's been awhile, but when the NBA playoffs kick in and the Lakers go on a run, my priorities change. Now that the postseason has ended with yet another NBA title for the purple and gold, I'm back. At least until the Dodgers reach the postseason.

On a more somber note...

When you spend 30 years in an industry, you make a lot of friends and even more acquaintances. And never in my years in newspapers have I seen a greater sense of despair among journalists than today. People who were commited to this business just months ago are looking for work elsewhere. Reporters who have spent years refining their craft are ready to take their skills someplace they feel they will be appreciated. And to be brutally honest, much of it is due to the utter lack of leadership in a profession that failed to see the potential impact of the Web and compounded that failure with inaction once it became apparent.

People are fed up. Scared. Resigned to a future in which they feel the priority is rapidly shifting to quantity over quality. And until they see some sort of leadership from folks who get paid a heckuva lot more than me, the exodus will continue.

Me? I'm still celebrating another Lakers championship.

Besides, it isn't all bad news. According to this story, the Union-Tribune's Web site is one of the better ones around. Or at least not one of the worst.