The Business
Jun 27th, 2005 at 9:38 am by Susie
I had dinner with a reporter the other night who told me, “I really think Watergate ruined journalism. Because it went from people who really wanted to serve the public to people who just wanted to be the next Woodward and Bernstein.”
I agree. Glory hounds, just as the original “Saturday Night Live” went from a cutting-edge, politically-savvy experience to an extended audition for Hollywood movie contracts. Arghh.
I can tell you this from the people I know who are still in the business: No one’s having fun. You don’t really get to cover anything.
Oh yeah, and here’s the latest trend. You’ve read my rants about how newspapers affect the perception that white suburban counties are ethically pristine, because they don’t cover them in depth?
Now I hear the Inquirer’s suburban sections will soon be written by… residents. You know, Scout leaders and Little League coaches. Very little actual news coverage.
Isn’t that special?
They seem to have missed the obvious. The suburbs already have community “shoppers” (which is what we call those newsy local papers, because they’re mostly about local ads). Why do we need more?
