Reinforcing optimism

Tell Romenesko to shut up. One of the big ironies in print journalism is that print journalists are frequently referring to the Romenesko blog—a blog, part of the new media—to receive news of dying or downsizing print newspapers. And while Romenesko doesn't do much more than merely relay the facts, the blog can be sobering. A former professor of mine, who is also an assistant managing editor at The Seattle Times (a newspaper Romenesko recently reported to be downsizing), said he simply stopped reading Romenesko. It was too depressing.
Yesterday's lectures on the new-medium thrusts of journalism were reinforcing. Or, at least, the lectures tempered the gloom a young reporter gets when all the veteran journalists he has worked with tell him to get out of the business and go to law school while it's still an option.