this image from one of my very favorite glass negatives, news boys in France holding up what looks like a political paper from maybe the 1920s. I did a treasury today about the death of the newspaper. I have a degree in journalism and my first job out of my graduate studies was at The Good Times newspaper in Santa Cruz, actually that was my second job. First was working for the Menlo Advisor. That was such a nightmare job, I was hired as manager over people who had been there 5 years or more and I was supposed to squeeze more work out of them for the lousy $5-7 an hour they were getting. I cut the tip of my finger one sat and had to be driven to the hospital by a co worker who only said"don't get blood in my car". I was fired after I had a meeting with the owners asking them for a 25¢ raise for one gal and to have a non smoking lunch room. They thought I was an upstart and I was but everyone loved me after my one summer there. The good times had lots of nice people working there and I met one of my best friends ever, Robin, who like myself, worked in the art dept and who was from the midwest and her father a life long artist.
There was no lack of nice people and also rotten power-hungry people as well. There was a 7.0 earthquake one day and trapped inside it for a time we all left and never entered the building again. The building was demolished.
After a short time at the new building I quit. Newspaper business is not the most fun and usually it is about the bottom line or how much you can save. Rupert Murdock bought us out and then I left.
I still think of those boys shouting "read all about it" whenever there was big news like war or stock market crash or titanic or baseball news.. those little boys who were big voices on the street corners, hawking the paper to all the business folks and everyday folks who like to be in the know.
My mom still reads her little Port Angeles newspaper each day and does the crossword puzzle. What is going to happen to our country without the newspaper. I don't know really but it won't be the same.
Link to the Newspaper treasury I did.
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1 comment:
my first job out of college was for the Orlando Sentinel. I worked from 12 midnight to 8 am building ads using the old Itek camera and waxing type to build the ads by scratch. this was pre computer.
then i went to creative loafing an alternative newspaper in atlanta where we would leave for lunch on fridays and never come back - wed make it up on saturdays.
its an odd business - in some ways more like a club where you do the work because you love it
the problem with newspapers today are they are corporate rags lying to the benefit of the overlords.
observe the bills being introduced now to regulate websites and blogs for content. gah!
whats the link to your treasury? id like to see that.
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