The Baltimore Sun fired longtime political columnist Jules Witcover by sending him an overnight letter. The cold, callous way the paper dismissed an icon of reporting shows just how far my profession has sunk.
Across the country, longtime journalists face similar fates at the hands of giant media chains that now control the news. At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, those over 50 are offered early retirement buyouts. I have friends there. All are over 50.
There was a time when experience counted for something. No more. Experience now means higher salaries and the only thing the money-grubbing suits who control the media chains care about is "return to investors," which means cutting expenses and the quickest way to cut expenses is by getting rid of high-priced talent.
Never mind the sad fact that quality suffers when you send your best reporters packing. Nobody cares a long as the balance sheet looks good in the annual report.
How right you are. I'll bet that none of the "the money-grubbing suits who control the media chains" show up at Democrat fund raisers.
unfortunately, every business is being given the over 50 treatment.
Hey, they can outsource, they can hire cheaper younger-sters who don't know better, and do you have ANY idea how much they save on benefits? Medical alone is incredible!
Journalism needs more old curmudgeous, with experience, insight and refusal to bow to the corporate idol. Then again, most other businesses need the same experience as well.