Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Demise of papers and day jobs

I'm really saddened by the state (and demise in some cases) of our nation's daily newspapers. There are many issues with the press, but when the print press is on it, they rock.
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So today, I'm thinking about the Atlanta Journal - Constitution, which is making big newsroom staff cuts.

The Atlanta cuts in particular remind me of the fact that newspapers are a traditional day job for many writers - and there are a number of authors who've come out of (through?) the AJC, including:
Tina McElroy Ansa, Baby of the Family, Ugly Ways, The Hand I Fan With, You Know Better, Taking After Mudear
Nathan McCall, Makes Me Wanna Holler, What's Going On, Them
Phyllis Alecia Perry (Stigmata)
Valerie Boyd, Wrapped in Rainbows

And others, I'm sure.

So will the demise of newspapers have an impact on the development of our storytellers? Certainly writers develop in other ways and other places. In fact newspapers may actually stymie some writers. Still it's been a home to some of the best.

The more I think about it, many of our authors have a newspaper background - not all, but many. Hopefully the authors of the future will keep writing, newspaper career or not.

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