As I write this blog there are hundreds – OK, likely thousands – of professional journalists looking for their next career move.
It’s quite a scary thought for someone who has written articles to pay my bills all through my career.
I was quite lucky, really. I qualified with post-graduate diploma in the May of 2001 and was a junior reporter a month later, spending 10 fantastic years at The Gazette in Blackpool, covering a wide range of stories from village fetes to huge fires, death, destruction and door knocks I’d rather not repeat.
The buzz of seeing your name on the front page of the paper is something I will never forget; I’ve still got my first “splash”. I’ve lost count of the number I had but I can tell you every one was a different challenge and everyone affected someone you had come across.
Leaving journalism behind was a struggle, having to change your writing style to fit in with in-house guides and client speak. You ask any journo and they will tell you that you never really leave the profession.
But times change, progress takes over and in a world which consumes news, views and data at an ever-increasing rate, digital demand seems to be delivering while paper has become the pauper.
Or has it?
It was sad to see The Independent make the move online a few weeks ago. Its front pages changed the way papers were produced and in its short print time – just 30 years – it was THE broadsheet for views, opinions and great journalism.
And then New Day came in, published by the owners of the Daily and Sunday Mirror, it claims to bring news and views in a new way – we’ll see.
It does prove one thing though – print is still powerful and has its place.
This, thankfully, is largely due to people’s appetite for content. The phrase “content is king” wasn’t just a passing fad, it’s become the starters, mains and dessert for how people live their lives. It’s consumed in a manner of different ways; from PC, smart-phone, Mac, tablet etc… There’ll always be an avenue for content consumption. And print is still one of them, no matter which form it takes. Newspapers, magazines, display, advertising etc…
While profit margins for papers may have diminished from their all-powerful grip on news in the 80s and 90s, they have been forced to adapt to their surroundings in a digital age to survive. The majority will have some hard copy somewhere. Newsrooms of the future have sprung up where journalists are now spreading their expertise to meet with demand, all in the name of progress, or so their bosses believe.
While progress may not be applauded by those who relied on print, it remains a powerful force in a marketplace where multi-media has become the go-to medium for news and views. It may have been labelled a pauper in terms of profit but it will always be powerful.
A former journalist, Nick Hyde is now PR & Content Manager at Happy Creative a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
