Otterblog

In a few minutes we will have our afternoon editors meeting. Not so many years ago, it would have been all male and all white. Now, it’s more diverse. We have female editors, minority editors, a greater cross-section if you will. But in one way, we’re lagging. Very few young people. Some days, there’s nobody under 30 at the meeting.

This is a preface to a good story in American Journalism Review about young journalists and how they view their profession in this time of wrenching change. They love what they do, are worried about the future, concerned that their elders either a) don’t get it, b) say they get it but really don’t get it c) will never get it.

This is difficult stuff. For the most part, people who run newspapers are middle-aged. If we say we get it, it’s largely because we listen to our kids. And if you asked our kids whether we get it they would likely laugh.

So, what can be done about it? That’s a more difficult question. I like my job, think I’m pretty good at it, and I’m not about to just roll over let a person half my age take it. If you read the article, it’s questionable that any of them would want it!!! But we have to do a better job at giving young journalists a larger voice in our operations. That can mean management, but it can mean other ways as well—from brainstorming sessions to overseeing projects important to them.