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WHO would pay for Journalism School today..?

I agree that political journalism and newspaper journalism is suffering.

But there's a big opportunity for journalists and industry analysts serving medium sized businesses in the US that are B2B in nature.

Here's the angle. Big companies are served by national advertising and they can afford to pay to reach mass markets. Small mom and pop operations are served by local newspapers and magazines. But where a lot of the growth has to occur is at mid-range companies selling a Business To Business (B2B) product.

Now a lot of tech companies fall into that category. And those companies sell in a very narrow niche. TV, newspaper and yellow page advertising is no value to them because they are so specialized. The customers they are trying to reach are often not local or even regional. They are all over the country, or even international.

But an industry journalist who covers their niche can serve them well and spread the word about them to the tight-knit group of people they want to reach.

This is what I do for a living, and I'm exploring the idea of working with other journalists who want to own their own operation and I assist with systems and consulting.

If anyone is interested, check out the outline of a seminar I gave on this topic here in Georgia.

Please feel free to contact me if you'd like to get the PowerPoint for this seminar.

I did some thinking on this subject and feel there's an opportunity for more than 5,000 US jobs for industry journalists who address these niche markets. Here's my calculation based on US Census data.

Allow the market to define the top dog...carriers...or, content providers. I agree with your thinking, Mariner. Here's my thinking:

• Meteor Strikes on Dinosaurs -- The comms industry is particularly susceptible to technological change that can suddenly make even modern infrastructure extinct. A couple decades ago the long distance telecom providers died because long haul traffic carrying could be done by the local operators.

  These meteor strikes continue: witness the rise of clouds, voice over IP such as Skype, Ooma, and Vonage; and the hundreds of carrier-neutral data centers in the last several years. The giant providers AT&T and Verizon have their mobile phones, but they are still feeling deep pressure to move into content -- and somewhat follow Comcast's lead.

• Having Skin in the Game -- So with the high risks inherent in telecom investments that constantly face technological and competitive threats, investors should be given every chance to succeed. They don't need their government stepping in to mandate a reseller channel that throttles the profits that are so highly at risk. Resellers need to pay the market price the infrastructure companies offer -- or they can simply make those investments themselves -- and full enjoy the profits or suffer the losses from those risks.
  
  
• Maintaining Dusty Roads that Lead to the Global Cloud are still Necessary -- As much as we all wish communications was totally virtual, you can't avoid physical access, cooper wires, telephone poles, DSL circuits, fiber, and so-called outside plant. Even the wireless networks of Verizon and AT&T require massive cell tower and physical access networks to connect to the wireline freeway. And much of that physical infrastructure is kept up by the old telephone companies and smaller cable operators, many of them being relatively small firms. So to overburden these vital access providers with profit caps is not wise.

I wrote a little story shortly after the Fukushima earthquake in Japan six years ago.

Japan’s Community Assurance: The ‘Ganbatte’ Spirit

It was an attempt to explain the quality of Japanese life and do some contrast with life in America.

Let’s face it: The quality of life in any nation is not measured by the size of its homes or its bank accounts.  A better KPI is the percent of citizens who are artists and craftsmen — people striving for perfection in whatever job they’re in, from kimono designer ... to company president ... to janitor.

 

*KPI = Key Performance Indicator

Hi Mame,

Yes, I do remember the chapter on Chinese.

The point of that chapter is show how Chinese is stripped to the bone — no articles, no unnecessary words and (as I recall) no verbs/nouns, no verb forms, no weird idioms.

So an English sentence like:
A man will biting the dog.

In Chinese that would be:
Man bite dog tomorrow.

Now I remember point this chapter out to my daughter who learned Mandarin in college and she said it’s more or less true.

But I wouldn’t wish the Chinese language on anybody because of the tonal fluctuations you need to speak it. My daughter learned it and it was fun to listen to here speak it.

Thanks. Yes, removing the thats is something i learned in the book too.

I think people will be surprised at the varied and well-written content in this book. It's not a boring course in writing at all.

Each chapter of the book stands on its own. And you learn about writing from many angles and in many situations.

Thanks for your comments.

I think you’re correct about exclamation points. This is old advice. For the web especially, sprinkling some exclamation points around — if not done too much — is effective.

On the use of feminine pronouns, I do this occasionally and no one has complained. I would be curious to hear what others think about that.

I actually prefer to alternate “he” or “she” as opposed to using “they” when it’s a single person.

Cheers.

Hi, Dr. Sirvana,

I think you are right. At the least, a passive voice sentence every once in a while breaks up the monotony a bit of active voice.

Very interested in the readability scales.

Definitely contact me by email (dbaker___ at ___technology-research.com).

Sounds like we are on the same wavelength for sure.

You're right, HarleyLady27.  I've read your comments and the way you write in the first person singular certainly adds zest to what you say!

If you recall in the Flesch's book, there a chapter about Montaigne, that 16th century Frenchman who went overboard taking about himself, but also endeared himself to his readers because he was so honest and talked about everything (even his sex life).

Well, not much has changed.  So much of public discussion today is fake and phoney.  When someone comes along who is provocative and speaks hard truth, well they often become highly credible!  Successful radio talk show hosts certainly understand this principle.

Another strategy Flesch talks about is purposely revealing to the reader you are not an expert in the subject matter you're talking about.

What?!  At first, this advice sounds ridiculous.  But by downplaying your expertise, you actually gain credibility with the reader.  (NOTE: The hundreds of ___fill-in-your-subject___ for Dummies books out seem to proves this point.)

But then, Flesch advises following up to explain how you became an expert by doing the research and synthesizing the knowledge of the many experts you spoke to.

Thanks. This is very useful to me, Yaelle. Flesch’s advice is definitely for someone who already knows the basics of writing.

And yet, I realize my images are a too cutesy for the sophisticated writer/reader. So my approach is not targeted enough.

For high schoolers, I guess there’s just no substitute for reading articles in the fine journals. Doing that instructs the mind as much as teaching the rules directly.

Good ones! Being mean was a specialty of H. L. Mencken, one of the greatest of newspaper pundits. William S. Schlamm of National Review posted this on the dust cover of the book H. L. Mencken's Smart Set Criticism:

There is not a single page [in the book] that left me without the sensation of sinful delight, the kind of laughter that comes from the darkest corner of the soul -- where man, in spite of his obligations to brotherhood and kindness and charity, succumbs to his inborn malevolence.

Many people online like to abbreviate to the point of obscurity. It's very true. Writing in the context what readers know is key.

I agree. You can go too far simplifying the text. Especially as you move into more technical areas, complex words are necessary.

True. Singling out a single word — while not grammatically correct — often works. Twitter-speak might encourage more of this.

It’s a great list! Thanks. William Safire is excellent. I’ll check this book out.

Only when it’s fiction and the King is a half-crazy King Lear does the Jester get to be bold.

There’s a proper time and place for everything. Insulting the Leader of the People is bad form. Trump asked them to apologize. If they do, fine, all’s forgiven.

If they don’t, then Hamilton’s potential audience is cut in half.

Interesting. I have spoken to Japanese about their Self Defense Force, and unfortunately, there’s a lack of full respect for the military in Japan among the people.

On matters of national defense, Abe is a natural ally of Trump since he’s been pushing hard for the Japanese to build up their own defense forces.

But the Japanese people fear a military build up because of the dangers it would lead to a military takeover. And another obstacle is Japan’s Constitution (that the U.S. wrote for them) that restricts Japan to a small Self-Defense Force.

Another big issue is the island of Okinawa where the American military has a big presence. Rapes and murders by American servicemen have occurred in recent years, greatly angering the people. There have been many large protests there.

I was stationed (early 80’s) in Sasebo, Nagasaki prefecture, at our naval base there where relations between the local people and the US were excellent.