Thursday, August 1, 2013

News Biz: So Different

Today is the 10th anniversary of my retirement from the Courier News, a decade in which the business of gathering and delivering news has changed in unforeseeable ways.

Newsrooms are now "information centers" and reporters are expected to be videographers as well as writers. I read an "e-newspaper" on my computer; many read it on their smartphones. Layoffs with rehires of half the number have reduced staff to anorexic, if not skeleton, levels. The Courier News building on Route 22, like many another piece of journalistic real estate, has been sold and staff (what's left of them) works out of rented offices or from their cars and homes.

Professional photographers roam the news biz landscape like dinosaurs before extinction. Their jaunty vests full of equipment have been supplanted by handheld phone cameras that reporters now juggle along with notebooks and pens.

Circulation has declined. In the case of the Courier News, it dropped 51 percent between 2005 and 2010. Now that news comes over multiple "platforms," organizations that track to circulation are coming up with new formulas count both print and digital readership.

Funny, we grumbled when the management did away with profit-sharing and free coffee in the newsroom. Little did we know what else was in store.

As the paper moved away from municipal coverage in recent years, I decided to bridge the gap with another mode of communicating - the blog. Maybe being just a few steps away from City Hall influenced my thinking, but I felt it was important for residents to know what their elected and appointed representatives were up to. Barbara Todd Kerr created Plainfield Plaintalker online in June 2005 and by degrees I became the sole writer and photographer, with posts just about every day on doings in Plainfield. The "hyperlocal" model later came to include Patch sites, though not in Plainfield. Still, at one point there were more than two dozen Plainfield blogs for former City Hall Public Information Officer Dan Damon to aggregate. Currently, only a few of us blog daily.

Besides following the many changes in newspapers on Gannett Blog, I have enjoyed keeping up with former colleagues through Facebook. Some have changed careers altogether, others are struggling to get by as writers and photographers in various media.

Way back in the days of feminist spirituality, I wrote to a well-known leader for a Tarot reading on three questions. One was whether I would ever earn my living by writing. The answer was "yes" and soon I was working at a Plainfield weekly newspaper, later at the daily for 16 years until retirement. I got to know an awful lot about the Queen City and met many fascinating people here. It was much more than earning a living, it was a revelatory experience in many ways. Reporters are not supposed to become part of the story, but I always hoped through providing information to engage as many others as possible in creating the story of Plainfield. It is a goal I still have with the blog today.

Thanks to all who supported me, argued with me, even those who tried to get me fired. Plainfield demands a lot from is scribes and griots. I'm glad I had a chance to be one.

--Bernice

9 comments:

  1. Your retirement coincided with my moving to Plainfield. You've been part of my Plainfield life since I moved here Bernice.. thank you for all you've shown me over the years. You've provided me with so much information and amusement I could never repay you. ( Even when you chastise me with a, " Rob, I'm not printing that", I'm actually a little flattered.
    My best always... one of your biggest fans!

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  2. Bernice, thank you so very much for the information you provide us with day after day. If it wasn't for you and Dan some of us would be in the dark as to the happenings in our town. You shed light where there is darkness and for that I'm very grateful. Thank you for all the hard work you put into keeping us informed!

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  3. Bernice,

    There's something kind of "culminating" in the feel of this blog post, unless I am again misreading--as has been my tendency of late. I hope not.

    Best,

    Rebecca

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  4. Rebecca, I have for years anticipated that our young lady will decide to go West. That will be Plainfield's loss. If their are any blogs left one will be tainted by political agenda and the other questionable by reliance on third party hearsay.

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  5. Bernice, I would have to agree that we've seen a lot of changes in the print world, myself having spent many years in research working at a variety of magazines. Even ABC, or the Audit Bureau of Circulation, is now called Alliance for Audited Media: The New Audit Bureau of Circulation, taking into account the counting of digital subs and single copy sales.

    However, from my geek standpoint, I do like to watch the evolution of social media analytics, I must say.

    Also, I got the same sense as Rebecca, but do hope she's wrong. Plainfield would be a much less informed town.

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  6. Bernice, you have been Plainfield's "newspaper" since you started writing the blog. I am speechless and very sad at the thought of not having your blog to read. However, you are most deserved of just kicking back and enjoying life, however and wherever you feel.

    Please know that your efforts were never taken for granted by those of us who read you on a daily basis - although we may not have let you know.

    What you have done for Plainfield in your blogging and archiving will never be forgotten, and you are certainly a big part of Plainfield history.

    After reading your last sentence, I keep hoping this is April 1st.

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  7. Bernice,
    Add me to the list of commenters who are alarmed at the tone of some of your recent posts. While you have every right to fully retire when you choose, it will be a huge loss to Plainfielders when it happens - especially because of your training as a reporter. Other bloggers with their evident political views are valuable, but your neutral and objective reporting is so important. I've often bumped into you, or seen you at HPC, and I'm sorry I haven't, until now, told you how important and appreciated your work is.

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  8. Bernice, why did you say you "had" a chance to be one? While I wish all the best for you, I nonetheless hope you will stay in Plainfield and keep on keeping us informed and stimulated!

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  9. Dear Bernice, neighbor, friend and "Plainfield prophet" who reports it as she sees it, (That's what prophets do!) Your honest observations, artistic photos and intelligent musings have been this city's nourishment throughout your reporting years. May they continue for all our sakes!
    Carolyn Eklund

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