A few more notes from the day:
Fighting words. In fighting for the preservation of a vibrant press, we believe we are fighting the good fight, but not all agree. This is from Josh Marshall, in a post titled Please, Please, Reporters with Brains:
For the McCain campaign to put out a memo to reporters claiming that Obama has adopted McCain’s policy only shows that his advisors believe that a sizable percentage of the political press is made up of incorrigible morons. And it’s hard to disagree with the judgment.
More fighting words: Ryan Sholin, in Declare independence from the curmudgeon tribe, takes on some rather nasty commenters who have leveled a barrage of invective at a young intern who blogged the meeting at which newsroom changes and layoffs were announced in Tampa Bay.
The comments (there are now 88 of them), some coming from people who profess to be journalists (this is the web after all: there’s no way to tell) are truly horrible in some cases. (I found it interesting that these folks were behaving in a manner that they would have ripped to shreds if that behaviour was coming from a public official, sports figure or other notable.)
It seems clear, in the words of Jay Rosen (via Twitter) that there is “Bitterness, rage, cowardice, and some hope in the news tribe.”
Frightening words. Apparently, as part of the Tampa Tribune restructuring, Tampa Tribune and WFLA-Ch. 8 photographers will be merged and all the shooters will have to reapply for (as yet undefined) jobs. Some won’t make the cut. There are details at The Feed at Tampabay.com. (Credit for spotting this goes to Chuck Fadely at his Yahoo newspaper video group.)
