I posted the following on his blog in response and again it's my pet subject of media economics tying in some of the material over the past couple of weeks.
Here is the comment in full
This time next year I shall be in the same boat as you looking for a position and it is worrying seeing constant news of cutbacks,no start ups etc.
I think that there are a number of reasons,some of which you allude to in your piece
Don't discount the general economic position either,business' generally will be caution in a declining market and add that to the structural changes going on in the media and it is a bleak picture.
Add to that the dearth of journalism students being churned out of journalism schools and the figures in the job market do not add up.
I maintain that the main issue is that the consumer of news simply doesn't want to pay for it and until the media break this cycle,the economics are not going to change.Thus for the business,that means low cost base for production ie low wages,churnalism and use of interns.
If I had the answer to that conundrum then I would be doing it already as would most of the media.
But perhaps a starting point( and I can hear the gasps now) is to move away form this obsession with multi platform delivery of content.
If you have a strong product then why do you have to cheapen its worth by making it available to all and sundry.If it is good and if it is scarce,then people will pay.That's basic economics.
Anyway I wish you luck on your job hunt.As you say I'm sure that your experience and contacts will stand you in good stead.It will just take time
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