Updated
Twenty years ago, journalism was different. Here are some ways, and feel free to add your own:
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Then: You could do anything short of murdering your city editor and not get fired.
Now: You don’t need to do anything to get fired.
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Then: Deadlines were once a day.
Now: Deadlines are 86,400 times a day
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Then: You got furloughed – time off without pay – when you screwed up.
Now: You get furloughed when the company screws up.
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Then: Most important news ruled.
Now: Most recent news rules.
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Then: You got paid little and got small raises.
Now: You get paid little and get no raises.
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Then: You smoked and put the cigarette out on the linoleum floor..
Now: You don’t smoke and if your neighbor does, he goes outside on the sidewalk.
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Then: Readers were surprised by the news
Now: Readers know the news already from Twitter or Facebook or 24-hour cable news.
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Then: Accuracy was vital and errors were a kick in the stomach.
Now: Accuracy is vital, but dammit, let’s get it out on Twitter!
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Then: Sports agate ruled.
Now: ESPN.com
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Then: Mobile is what newspaper carriers were.
Now: Something newspapers still haven’t quite got right.
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Then: Avoid the city desk by not answering the phone.
Now: Impossible to avoid the city desk’s phone calls, texts, emails, DMs, tweets…
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Then: Competition was that other paper.
Now: Competition is that guy, and that guy, and her, and him over there ….
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Then: Newsrooms were loud and smoky and crowded.
Now: Newsrooms are quiet and not smoky and filled with empty desks.
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Then: A link was something that kept the ends of your cuffs together, and which only journalists with airs wore.
Now: A url that most news websites still haven’t figured out how to embed.
Then: You ignored mail you didn’t like.
Now: You ignore mail you don’t like. And email. And story comments. And tweets.
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Then: Your day started when your sources did.
Now: Your day has already started, regardless of when you wake up.
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Then: Your day ended when the copy desk pressed send.
Now: What copy desk?
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Then: Computers frequently crashed and your stories vanished before your eyes.
Now: Yes.
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Then: Everyone read your story.
Now: Most everyone has heard about your story.
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Then: You decide when to break the story.
Now: The source breaks her story on her blog or FB page or tweet.
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Then: In sports, it was all about who won the game.
Now: It’s not about who won the game. (See ESPN.)
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Then: In politics, it’s all about the horse race.
Now: In politics, it’s all about the horse race.
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Then: Editors never gave you enough time to do quality work.
Now: Editors still don’t give you enough time to do quality work.
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Then: You told photographers what kind of photo you wanted.
Now: Photographers? You shoot your own.
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Then: Journalists can close down a bar.
Now: Journalists can close down a bar.
From the comments:
Then: News was news, advertising was advertising, and never the twain did meet.
Now: Advertorial, or embedded advertising, or whatever the term of the day is, is “a new revenue opportunity” requiring no transparency as to either form or source, readers be damned. (Lex)
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Then: You used a telephone book and a city directory book to look up people’s phone numbers, verify the spelling of their names (never trust the city directory), and get their addresses (also their neighbors’, if it was a crime scene).
Now: Books? (Steve)
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Then: You never went out to cover a story without a reporter’s notebook and a couple of pens in your pocket or purse. And your desk was stuffed with half-used notebooks.
Now: You never go anywhere without your cell phone. And your desk is still filled with half-used notebooks. (Steve)
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Then: You went to the morgue to get background for a story.
Now: Whaddya mean they wiped out the archive when they updated the CMS? (Steve)
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Then: Small town newspapers were family owned.
Now: Hundreds of small town papers are being bought out by the same enormous firm run by questionable lawyers and bankers.
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Then: The daily newspaper was placed in newsrooms for staff to read.
Now: Staff goes to the front counter to buy a newspaper if they want to read it.
Then: News was news, advertising was advertising, and never the twain did meet.
Now: Advertorial, or embedded advertising, or whatever the term of the day is, is “a new revenue opportunity” requiring no transparency as to either form or source, readers be damned.
Then: You used a telephone book and a city directory book to look up people’s phone numbers, verify the spelling of their names (never trust the city directory), and get their addresses (also their neighbors’, if it was a crime scene).
Now: Books?
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Then: You never went out to cover a story without a reporter’s notebook and a couple of pens in your pocket or purse. And your desk was stuffed with half-used notebooks.
Now: You never go anywhere without your cell phone. And your desk is still filled with half-used notebooks.
**********
Then: You went to the morgue to get background for a story.
Now: Whaddya mean they wiped out the archive when they updated the CMS?
Then: The daily newspaper was placed in newsrooms for staff to read.
Now: Staff goes to the front counter to buy a newspaper if they want to read it.
Then: Small town newspapers were family owned
Now: Hundreds of small town papers are being bought out by the same enormous firm run by questionable lawyers and bankers
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Then: News-getters were mobile.
Now: Mobiles get the news.
Then: Newspapers were mobile.
Now: Mobiles are newspapers.
Then, newspapers were honest brokers of information. Today, newspapers are dying, most TV news is partisan, and online news is a swamp of misinformation and outright lies. It would be difficult to exaggerate how much damage this is doing to the American democracy.
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