Whenever I meet young people who are determined to become journalists, I try to talk them out of it. And if I can’t, I tell them to go work on little papers, where real journalism is still possible.
Looks like I was right. (The comments contain probably the best comments validation I’ve ever seen.)
Little paper (circ. 23,000 on weekends) was the best job I ever had in journamalism. Then I “moved up” and was sorry I did.