Journo Gurus

By Ben Cohen

An interesting piece on how journalists make money the era of downsizing and blog explosion:

These are the locust years for the journalistic profession. American newspapers are

sacking staff by the hundred. The surviving hacks are having to do ever more

for their stagnant salaries--to produce blogs and podcasts as well as reporting.

Sales are slumping and advertising (which traditionally made up 80% of revenues) is in a death spiral. The refrain

in the newsrooms goes: "I wish I'd gone to law school."

But amid all this gloom a few
hacks are doing better than ever. These are the first-class passengers of the
journalistic world--sitting on upholstered thrones, surrounded by adoring
hostesses, while the rest of the profession is crowded into cattle class or
getting hurled off the plane. These are the journo-gurus. They focus on
business rather than the usual staple of high-profile journalism, politics. And
they specialise in big, bold, brave ideas about world-changing trends.