Friday, April 15, 2011

Newspaper Gods

Pity the last few people hired to work in the old Betamax factory. They thought they were starting the dream job of a lifetime only to have it fizzle within weeks. Also those folks building Edsels long ago. Sure, they might have gone on to work for another automobile manufacturer, but the disappointment must have been palpable.

Industries are born, grow, and some die. Some implode instantly while others dwindle over lengthy periods of time, as if they are on life support. They never actually revive, but they never entirely go away either. Witness the newspaper industry.

As a victim of cable TV, the Internet, and a general lack of interest among the American populace, the newspaper industry has been on its last legs for a long time. Its utter demise has been forecast for many years. Newspapers are going out of business, or merging with former competitors, or shrinking in size and distribution, or replacing reporters with items pulled from the Internet, or substituting advertisements for most articles. This has been going on for a few years now, which makes my entry into the newspaper world back in 2007 a spectacular bit of bad timing.

I started writing commentary pieces for Silicon Valley Community Newspapers just over four years ago. Once or twice a month they allow me to pontificate on whatever subject matter interests me, and they even pay me for the effort. Lately, though, my offerings take a while to come to print because of the restriction in number of pages in each issue. Sometimes the Op-Ed page is completely skipped over.

So it has been a while since I've had a piece in the paper. Fortunately, when I do, it is also available on the San Jose Mercury News web page. Here. This is my latest. Hopefully it isn't my last.

Looks like I picked the perfect time to be a newspaperman. I wonder if I can get a job at the old Betamax factory.

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