tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post4754077630817851417..comments2024-02-13T10:20:04.888+00:00Comments on David Hepworth's blog: Will journalism ever become a trade again?David Hepworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05973053694541321308noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-22272994888043430652009-11-24T20:16:32.875+00:002009-11-24T20:16:32.875+00:00Sadly, this whole thing has become a question of t...Sadly, this whole thing has become a question of trade-offs. One writer will do a blog for nothing, because it raises his profile, so his printed work will get a higher fee. Another will do it because it publicises the book of his collected blogs he plans to sell. A third will do it because his byline will promote his other job as writer/editor/columnist, for which he is paid, and to which he wants to generate traffic. So even writers who are paid to work elsewhere might write a blog for free. It's sad, but true.Paul Knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-7355632443568063932009-11-23T15:03:33.093+00:002009-11-23T15:03:33.093+00:00I'm curious as to why they thought you might w...I'm curious as to why they thought you might work for free? What was in it for you? Surely only a young and inexperienced journalist would be happy to blog for a newspaper voluntarily, just to get their name out there.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06170574944537866579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-53015346445442737232009-11-22T13:53:17.267+00:002009-11-22T13:53:17.267+00:00Good points, Paul. In answer to your last question...Good points, Paul. In answer to your last question, it's not very encouraging to look at those sections of newspaper sites that list the "most read" stories at any given time. For instance, these are the five most popular items on The Guardian site in the last week:<br />1. The new wave of female firebrands striking fear into liberal America<br />2. World Cup play-off: France v Republic of Ireland - as it happened | Barry Glendenning<br />3. Gang 'killed victims to extract their fat'<br />4. Jon Ronson on telling his son the worst swearword in the world<br />5. Belle de Jour blogger unmasks herself as 'big mouth ex-boyfriend' loomsDavid Hepworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03541581777824775884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-57645124664847072632009-11-22T11:52:35.029+00:002009-11-22T11:52:35.029+00:00Part of the bundle which needs to be unpicked is t...Part of the bundle which needs to be unpicked is that reporting, comment, analysis and criticism all fall within the umbrella of journalism. Some of those are related to a trade (reporting) and some to a profession (the other three). As traditional media crumbles, all four of those have particular issues, but I for one am certainly happy to pay for any of them that are performed well; I would pay for Keith Waterhouse and Bernard Levin (and did), just as happily as I pay for cultural criticism, political analysis or the kind of reporting that unearthed, say, the thalidomide scandal.<br /><br />Am I naive to think that there are enough people who think like me to maintain "traditional journalism" in some form, somewhere?Paul Knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-18207770970863772932009-11-21T00:35:25.764+00:002009-11-21T00:35:25.764+00:00Fabulous post, David, and without the terrible hub...Fabulous post, David, and without the terrible hubris of grave dancing Jarvis and his ilk.<br />It strikes me that the trusted (if not always agreed with) Hepworth and Word magazine brands, are the future of mass publishing.<br />A smaller readership which really values what it reads, perhaps in much smaller volumes, is perhaps the future.<br />Now the Observer is cutting a lot of the extraneous nonsense it never needed in the first place, maybe we will get back to organs we actually want to read all of.<br />When's Heppo's Miscellany out then, la?Paddy Hoeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17078596321158861798noreply@blogger.com