the bad news biz

Today I wrote a letter of recommendation for a young woman who is applying to journalism school. It was a counterintuitive exercise for me. I am writing this as several friends are waiting to hear whether theirs will be among the 600 jobs deleted at Time Inc. Also as it is announced that the AOL spinoff in a couple weeks will cost 2,500 jobs there. Nine years ago. AOL and Time Warner accomplished their synergistic merger that brought both companies low. Former honchos during the merger are now cooling their jets respectively on big tracts of paradise in Kauai and California. Internet business kaput. Magazine business kaput. Didn't even last a decade.
Meanwhile, my candidate. Journalism jobs these days are scarce and the few outfits that can hire have a bad case of who-you-know-itis. She feels stuck at her current yachting magazine job. And who could blame her—she wants to write about serious, important, or at least amusing subjects rather than about how to float your boat. (Come to think of it, the yachtbuilding biz could be in as much trouble as the magazine biz in this economy!) Perhaps as she gets her degree, the stormwaters will subside and we will be able to see what journalism will look like when we reach harbor again. Otherwise (to stretch the metaphor too far), we're all sunk.