Unemployed journalists: Call Yahoo

Posted by: Stephen Baker on September 22

Bob Cauthorn predicts that beleaguered newspapers will be facing even more dire results next month. Jeff Jarvis comments, saying that papers’ most valuable assets aren’t their brands, but the trust readers have in them. Take a look at Nellie Lide’s list as she contrasts the old media shrinkage with new sources that are growing:

craigslist - growing
blogosphere - growing
Google - growing
Yahoo! - growing
ESPN - growing
The Daily Show - expanding
MySpace - growing
my family and friends (actual people I mean, not a website) - still growing

Note that with the exception of The Daily Show, none of those outlets is associated with any line of politics. The biggest MSM representative, ESPN, is cloistered away in the safe world of sports. Is it possible to cover politics and current events in our polarized world and build bipartisan trust? I don’t think so.

One more thing. Look at that list from the perspective of a job-hunting journalist, and it’s clearer than ever that all of us are going to need broader skills, with a heavy dose online communications savvy and multimedia.

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