One of my favorite professors from my Columbia days, Sam Freedman, is about to come out with his latest book: Letters to a Young Journalist.
The following passage is from the end of the Introduction:
I’m not trying to scare you off. I hope you find the challenges inspiring. When I was your age, the cachet of journalism attracted plenty of poseurs. One thing you can say about the present unpopularity of journalism is that it drives out all the uncommitted. If you’re a true believer, if this is meant to be your life’s work, then nothing and nobody can change your mind. Even in a bleak period for journalism, you can find signs of vitality—the astounding growth of NPR; the development of Salon and Slate on the Internet; the transformation of USA Today from an object of ridicule to a serious, successful national paper; the opening of twenty-four-hour cable news operations in local as well as metropolitan markets.
So don’t think journalism is going away. Delivery systems may change from paper to computer, and reporters may be renamed “content providers.†Revered and beloved publications may perish while reality-TV series thrive. But intellectual curiosity, vigorous research, acute analysis, and elegant prose will never go out of style. If anything, the shorter the supply, the more those traits will be valued.
Several years ago, while writing a book about American Jewry, I came upon a famous essay reproaching Jews for their perpetual fear of extinction; it was wryly titled “The Ever-Dying People.†During my years as a Times reporter, I covered Broadway, which for decades thought itself so close to demise that it was nicknamed “The Fabulous Invalid.†One of the hit shows while I was on the Page 12 beat, “A Chorus Line,†has a piquant moment you might appreciate. A dancer named Bebe has just been cast for a show, and naturally enough she feels like celebrating. Yet all around her the rest of the chorus members are complaining—“no security in dancing,†“no promotion and advancement,†“no work anymore.†To which Bebe shoots back, “I don’t wanna hear about how Broadway’s dying. Because I just got here.â€
