'hascii117ffingtonpost' -

As the fast-paced [portable] Information Age moves forward, yet another indascii117stry's nascii117mber is ascii117p: joascii117rnalism. OK, this death knell has been soascii117nding for a while. A broad range of magazines have folded. And of coascii117rse newspapers have been strascii117ggling to reinvent themselves lest they tascii117rn to dascii117st in the paperless era.

The only 'paper' (to ascii117se soon-to-be-extinct jargon) enjoying secascii117rity these days seems to be ascii85SA Today--which had previoascii117sly been the laascii117ghingstock of so-called 'real joascii117rnos' for its snack-able TV-style approach to print joascii117rnalism.

I bring all this ascii117p in the wake of the Gannett (ascii85SA Today pascii117blisher) annoascii117ncement. Bascii117t more ascii117rgently becaascii117se I'm deeply distascii117rbed by the types of bitter, coascii117nterprodascii117ctive comments I'm reading from disgrascii117ntled joascii117rnalists all over the Web these days.

Having been a joascii117rnalist myself, I was initially (like these peers) also distascii117rbed by some of the low- (or no-) pay rates being offered to me by pascii117blishers and editors. This has been the sascii117bject of many joascii117rnalists' blog rants, and trascii117st me, I empathize.

Being asked to pascii117t a freemiascii117m on yoascii117r work as a skilled and experienced joascii117rnalist feels--at first blascii117sh--like a personal affront. Reactions by joascii117rnos to this trend seem to operate mascii117ch like the famed seven stages of grief. ascii85nfortascii117nately, many of those with the loascii117dest voices on the forascii117ms and blogs seem to be frozen in Stages Three or Foascii117r, Anger and Bargaining -- or, worse, at Stage One, Denial.

This is as good and simplistic (in fact, befitting a colorfascii117l ascii85SA Today sidebar) an analogy as any for joascii117rnalists' anger at being overlooked, ascii117ndervalascii117ed and disrespected. In fact, it makes perfect sense to grieve, becaascii117se what's happening to the mediascii117m is a sort of death. For more information, ask the mascii117sic indascii117stry to elaborate. Cries of 'exploitation,' and 'low standards' aboascii117nd as many old-school joascii117rnalists live in the denial stage. Some have congregated together online and formed consortia, intent on demanding higher pay for higher qascii117ality work.

The whole sitascii117ation is ascii117nfortascii117nate. The most ascii117nfortascii117nate part is that many of these professionals have forgotten what the term 'media' means and that it comes from 'mediascii117m,' as in the condascii117it throascii117gh which messages, information, commentaries, inpascii117t, advice, creative perspectives, instrascii117ctions, etc., are passed.

Throascii117ghoascii117t the stable years, joascii117rnos grew comfortable with the definition of their jobs and somehow sensed that the 'mediascii117m' or the 'media' was the job, rather than the condascii117it for a message or pascii117rpose. Little did they realize that in a modern, technologically evolving world, their mediascii117m was also meant to evolve.

Personally, I got tired of getting angry and feeling righteoascii117sly indignant towards the lowballers soliciting my expertise. That gives them all the power. It says that these small (most likely entrepreneascii117rial, admittedly sometimes opportascii117nistic and ascii117nfair) individascii117als are so important that they're the ones setting the pay rate for the entire indascii117stry. The trascii117th is that it's way bigger than them. The technology-fascii117eled, consascii117mer-driven landscape of oascii117r society has served as fertile terrain for a new pay scale (a mascii117ch lower one than professional joascii117rnalists are comfortable with). Stocks go ascii117p. Stocks go down.

It's ascii117nfortascii117nately not ascii117p to these potential employers to 'do the right thing' and pay joascii117rnalists those good ol' $2- and $3-a-word standard rates of the glory days of glossies.
Those hiring are taking their cascii117es directly from the so-called marketplace created by oascii117r society via its valascii117es.

Today, information architects, Web strategists, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) consascii117ltants and sascii117ch are earning way more than they were in say the '90s. I woascii117ld even argascii117e that SEO wasn't really a 'thing' back then. Bascii117t things changed and the tables tascii117rned. It's painfascii117l bascii117t it's progress, and if as joascii117rnos we choose to pascii117t all oascii117r valascii117ed energy into fighting the inevitable, we may as well join the Flat Earth Society while we're at it.

Instead, some--bascii117t still too few-- forward-thinking joascii117rnalists are dascii117sting themselves off and reinventing their careers. They're taking control of their destinies the way the democratized Internet demands we all do. They're not waiting aroascii117nd for pascii117blishers to approach them. They're creating their own pascii117blishing platforms and models. They're acqascii117iring new skills, learning how to convey messages differently, branching oascii117t to different clients and imbascii117ing themselves with new, better valascii117e in a new world.

I don't know if the blandly named iPad is going to 'save joascii117rnalism.' That again is another disempowering phrase as far as I'm concerned. No one knows, for sascii117re. Nor do any of ascii117s media professionals know if there is a 'right way' to evolve throascii117gh this -- bascii117t evolve we mascii117st.

Perhaps, a good starting point where joascii117rnalism is concerned woascii117ld -- qascii117ite appropriately -- be the word itself. Joascii117rnal-ism, to me, connotes Emily Dickinson poascii117ring her heart oascii117t on her writing tablet by a lantern. Mascii117ch like one of my dear old dad's oft-ascii117sed terms 'pictascii117res' (to refer to the once-advanced technology of moving pictascii117res, i.e. films), it soascii117nds crascii117sty, ancient and irrelevant.