"It's not all doom and gloom"

What a week. What a good reason to write about it, to BLOG about it, in fact.

Readers call me every so often just to complain. They complain about everything, but the funny callers are the ones who say we put too much bad news in the paper and that we need to write more happy, and heartfelt stories. Well, unfortunately, we print what's real, what's happening in the world. No sense in avoiding it.

So this made me wonder what kind of conversation was held in the newsroom of one of the state's largest newspapers this week when they received the announcement that some about one third of the employees were being offered buyouts. If not enough accepted, the paper would be sold.

I was pretty shocked to see a story about the paper on its way out, posted on the front page of the very paper the reporter was writing about. I mean, who really volunteers to write that story and interview your own publisher about how you might be out of a job by next week?

The reason? A piss-poor economy leads to not enough revenue through advertising, and top it off with the fact that everyone gets their news from the Internet, sent to their Blackberries, or from lame-ass television reporters who spend all day reporting and editing one story only to air it at 6 p.m. on a 20-second spot.

Our editor tells us, "It's not all doom and gloom." Our publisher says we're doing well. And we're OK - for today. That is until we fall into the same boat of not having enough advertising and losing too many readers to our online editor's blog and home video posts. Kidding.

I joked that at least I'm still in my 20s and if print journalism turns into a sinking ship, I can hop out and head back to college. Or sell out and go work as a PIO for a state department. Of course, there's always waitressing.

So this prompted me to start writing, with the thought that maybe someone will find my job, (and the drama I put up with on any single day) the least bit interesting. If not, at least I can vent.