In a comment elsewhere on this site, former Courant copy editor Carlos Cunha suggested that it might be time to start up a Connecticut news operation staffed by unemployed journalists. There are obviously more than a few wrinkles in the notion, but the premise is not far-fetched.
With so many journalists and so few available jobs — and with other employment prospects as bad as they have been in decades — why not organize an online news agency to fill some of the void being left by the corporate news operations? Wouldn’t it be better than sending out resumes and sitting around waiting for the unemployment check?
In one sense, at least, the time is ripe, as Central Connecticut State University journalism professor Vivian Martin (a former Courant journalist) points out. I asked her what she tells her students these days, given the apparent job prospects, and here’s what she said (I added the boldface):
I am optimistic. I [was recently in San Diego ] at a campus media conference …, and many of the students, typically staff on college newspapers, are quite excited about the possibilities. Andrew Donohue, of voiceofsandiego.org, one of the keynote speakers, said the discussion should be about saving journalism, not necessarily saving newspapers. The crowd applauded his remarks against a government bailout for newspapers, which mismanaged themselves and resisted what needed to be done for so long.
My thinking is similar, probably because I have done a lot of freelancing (newspapers, magazines, books, other writing projects) and was involved with a few publishing startups. I’d jump in with a web project right now if I didn’t have so many commitments on my plate. In my view, the era of the penny press, which led to the era of corporate journalism in the late 19th century, were times of innovation and a reconfiguration of models and players. That’s what’s happening now. I think it’s harder to appreciate if you’re unemployed and have no immediate prospects, and that’s understandable.
I tell students that it will be much more difficult to find the kind of jobs I had when I started (covering a town, then moving on to cover the city at the Courant), but there will be many different opportunities to do journalism and related work involving journalism skills. Truth is, students don’t want the kind of newspaper jobs I had. Newspapers have not been at the top of the list for most journalism students (nationally) for several years. Magazines, even trade magazines, are popular. I have students who would prefer to work for a trade magazine, especially if it is in NYC, than a local paper. Our program will allow students to build a few courses related to subjects like health or science into their major, which wll also expand options. We’re also encouraging enrollment in courses in entrepreneurship and computer science. I have a few students who will probably be able to create interesting databases. (And I hope some will be interested in public affairs issues.)
From its earliest days, J-schools produced graduates who pursued a variety of fields, from law to technical writing. Students will need to proceed with caution, but those who build the skills (traditional and new) will do well.
I don’t know that we are yet in a position to run out and set up shop, but let’s refine Carlos’ idea.
For instance, what if 25 or 30 laid-off pros worked side by side with students on a journalism project? Would a college or foundation supply some funds for that? Where would we get the money for a server and support for it? Would the volunteers have enough hardware and software to make such a venture work?
Are there some out-of-work business or sales people — or retirees — who would be interested in handling the business end of such an operation so others could actually report, shoot photos and write? What kind of focus would such a Connecticut start-up have?
What kind of organization structure could you have with an all-volunteer workforce? Would there be sufficient management to produce a cohesive and smooth-running operation? Would there be legal exposure for potential libel claims?
Anybody got any thoughts on this?
Loading ...
Hi,
My name is Ezra Silk. I worked as an intern for the Courant’s Avon Bureau a couple of summers ago and I am now the editor of the Argus, the mainstream bi-weekly student newspaper at Wesleyan. I would be interested in getting involved in a project like this, especially now that we’ve just launched a flashy new website (wesleyanargus.com). Let me know if you want to speak about this.
–Ezra
Let’s see who comes out of the woodwork, Ezra.
I wonder if Middletown and Environs (the area around Wesleyan) would be a good target area. Or would it be better to focus on a less geographic but higher-profile subject, i.e., state government? We could really tear things up there, and have a built-in readership of thousands of state employees. Or should there be an even sharper focus?
Thanks for taking up the cause. I do think it’s a worthy one.
But at the beginning stages of a project like this, if you look too hard for wrinkles, you’ll end up folding before you even start. What we should concentrate on at first is finding ways to make it simple, easy, doable.
This does not have to emerge fully formed and funded; the refinements can be applied as we go, as we let the thing evolve (and there’s nothing like the Web to hasten evolution.) The important thing is to get something started, and soon – while our poor unemployment checks are still coming. This is the grain-of-sand-in-the-oyster approach: put the grain in there and it might well evolve into a pearl.
My own vision for this is a Web newspaper (I see the design as quite retro, classically black-and-white newspaperish, to distinguish it from all the luridly colorful, high-tech, and ultimately burdernsome websites) that we update as we get contributions from volunteers and through aggregation. The editing, aggregating, administrative, advertising and marketing duties can be rotated. Our own correspondents’ stories would, initially, be whatever they could unearth in the greater Hartford region, according to their interests and expertise. Preferably it would be the sort of news feature that would be of interest to the entire region, have syndication (and social media) value and get a buzz going about our paper.
The ultimate, pie-in-the-sky goal would be, of course, to evolve into the “paper” of record for this region, but we have to start small and humble and rely mostly on improvisation, ingenuity and good will. I do believe we’ll get a lot of the latter, and quite possibly financial support, from the growing legions of disaffected Courant readers. (And I’m sure our starting a paper will itself make news and draw coverage from TV and radio stations, if not from the Courant itself.)
The first grain of sand could be a domain name. Refugees could contribute some ideas.(Sorry, iTowns is taken already.)With Carlos’ comment above, one can almost see a world in a grain of sand already — or at least a city or state. He’s absolutely right: The important thing is to get something started — and to keep it simple. Let’s come up with some names.
As for the future of Tom Green’s old paper (once a pamphlet and rapidly shrinking into one again), the website looked especially fetching today. If we ignore the ads (not easy, at least without Allsafe anti-radiation goggles), the headline at the top of the page would seem to be “Last updated at …” That suggests that someone is still hard at work in the all-but-abandoned newsroom, updating the ads in real time. (Is it someone from the dayside wrecking crew, or is it the last of the nightly cleanup staff?) Below the update on updating is is the BREAKING NEWS, something on these lines: Probable cause found in state ethics case. Now there’s a headline for you. We’ve all been wondering about that case — that’s why we visit the site. Or how about: Snow dampens turnout in Naugatuck … (oops, the rest is cut off in the late-breaking news box, but the animated box sure is neat). Ready to scroll down for more news — the unbreakable stuff that sits there day after day? There are so many ads that most of the headlines have to be crammed into the middle column. Couldn’t someone from HGTV’s “Dream Home” create some closet space on the site, so some stuff could be tucked away, out of sight? The site even has what look like Google Adsense ads, a promising source of revenue for home-based blogs. That money-making idea probably perked things up in the conference room for a while. Then there’s the Pick & Win ad, which took at hint from the newpaper’s banner and rolled over on its side. (One can’t help wondering why some top editors couldn’t also take the hint.) Is this site really the future of the Courant? Some intelligent discussion about another newsroom’s approach: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/business/media/21askthetimes.html?pagewanted=all
Hey everyone.
There is an organization in Georgia that is doing that, sort of. Here’s an example of the daily report from the Georgia Online News. Many of the writers here are ex-newspaper journalists, many from the AJC.
http://www.alisias.com/templates/gonso_greensheet.cfm?templateid=170&eventid=0&id=198303&editionid=71
The Georgian outfit calls itself GONSO — Georgia Online News Service. What would Connecticut’s or Hartford County’s be called?
Nutmeg News Service?
CONN
The Connecticut Online News Network
I will add that a friend of mine is actually involved in an effort to create an online publication in Connecticut. Christine Stuart and Doug Hardy are working on CTNewsJunkie.com: http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/
I don’t know what the opinion is of this, but it seems that GONSO is doing more of a “newspaper” like thing.
Another friend in Georgia is doing something more local. Check this out. http://www.hometownheadlines.com/. As you can see, it’s got lots of ads and seems pretty simple. Just some ideas.
Cindy and I are thinking of everyone who is strugging right now. There is a real chance we may be in the same boat soon. Sigh
Our heart goes out to you, Dana and Cindy, if you do wind up in the same boat. Actually, the sinking RMS Courant didn’t provide lifeboats. You wouldn’t wind up in the same boat, strictly speaking, but in the same dark, icy sea. If you’re lucky, you might find a deck chair to cling to — or a piece of driftwood, perhaps some paneling from the former Thomas Green stateroom. The sad fact is that all of us — from the duty officers to the steerage class passengers — were simply tossed overboard. It was a cost-effective solution: Because of the large amount of cash the ship was carrying, to pay off some longstanding debts in the home port on Lake Michigan, the load had to be lightened. There had been reports of numerous icebergs ahead for months, of course. But the doughty (and I did say doughty, not dowdy) captain was supremely confident that the newly redesigned ship could withstand anything. It could sail through any seas, in any climate, any weather, and as an extra precaution, the masthead had been sensibly laid on its side to stabilize the vessel. As the iceberg sightings increased, the senior officers responded by ordering watertight doors for their compartments. Thank goodness they’re all safe now. Indeed, their compartments could retain an adequate supply of air for a good long while — at least until the hull settles to the bottom of the ocean and breaks up. The captain appears to be in good spirits, retaining the line of command among a full contingent of senior officers (who hid under the tables in the first-class dining room while the duty officers were hurled over the the side). For now, the ship proceeds on merrily (and obliviously) on its new course (down), until the order is shouted out once again: “All hands on deck!”