You Don't Have to be a Marxist (or an Arborist) to Recognize a Root Cause

Here's the full text of a letter a sent to Romenesko yesterday in response to this piece. Apparently, I'm not the only one who took issue with it. It was a weak piece and it deserves the heat it's getting, not least because it was written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist.

"Regarding Connie Schultz's piece, I too find it distressing that fewer journalism school students want careers in, well, journalism. But isn't a bit unfair for these profs to scold only students for chasing the big bucks (or at least a living wage)? Aren't they just taking their cues from the journalism business itself?

To the prof who says, 'The thought of starting out at $25,000 or $30,000 to expose corruption and champion the underdog just doesn't do it for them. They have no interest,' I'd say two thinks: 1) Starting out at $30K? Come down from your ivory tower. Many reporters (my former self included) had to get by on less than $20K to start (I started at $18K) and toiled for years before reaching $30K. Check the industry salary surveys. 2) Perhaps too many students have heard too many stories handed down from working journos whose own efforts to "expose corruption and champion the underdog" were squashed by publishers and editors who didn't share that passion and were unwilling to commit the resources or who spiked controversial stories to please an advertiser or who said, in response to a hot tip on corruption at City Hall, 'That's great, but we still need the 'cat-stuck-in-a-tree story form tomorrow's A1.'

I also despair that so few young people vote, but I put the blame largely on our screwed-up political system. Likewise, if students are turning away from hard journalism, maybe it's because too much journalism has gone soft. You reap what you sew."

I also agree with those writers who take Schultz and her sources to task for allowing anonymous hand-wringing unsupported by any hard facts to rule the column.

And, just so it's not all doom and gloom about the future of the business, the Boston Phoenix's Mark Jurkowitz has a list of journalism's up-and-comers. (Of course, let's check back in five years and see how many are in law school or at PR firms...sorry, couldn't resist).