Journalists, teachers and advertisers

    There was a time when us Blade photographers wouldn't answer the phone because we were afraid of being asked to work overtime. It was about 10 years ago, in the height of the doc.com era. President Clinton had the national debt under control, and I made nearly $29 an hour.
   Advertising was good back then. The Blade was thick enough with ads to generate enough money to pay top salary to its reporters and photographers.
   But that was then.
   I make $5 less an hour now, overtime is practically non-existent, and the national debt is out of control.
   Nearly every week I hear about journalists being laid off and newspapers closing. Our own paper is thinner than ever because paid classified ads are now free in Craig's List, and the auto industry and grocery stores have cut their advertising to the bone.
   Advertisers and newspapers. This dysfunctional marriage ties in exactly with what the authors of the Elements of Journalism were talking about in the third chapter about who journalists work for.
   Truth is  - newspapers need advertising to get the job done. And advertisers used to need newspapers to get their sales published. But the Internet is changing things. But to what extent? I have no idea. Photographers don't know those kinds of details.
   Teachers are being laid off, too, because voters are not renewing levies for our schools.
   It sure is a hard time for both teachers and journalists. People think I'm crazy because I'm going to school to be a journalism teacher. But I can't imagine what life would be like without ethical journalists, or what journalists would be like without skilled teachers, or what newspapers would be like without paid advertisements.