Holding a job is harder today than it used to be. That's because
technology has wiped away so much of the work that used to be tedious.
People used to complain about being bored at work. What a nice "problem"
that would be today.
People are stressed. They manage information or data systems that are extremely powerful.
Today we respect all jobs. If a job is legal and you get paid, it's
to be respected. I remember being at the Willmar McDonald's with a
friend in the mid-1970s and seeing an older man working there. My friend
said "how would you feel if that was your father?"
How would I feel? No judgment is called for of course. That's the
outlook today. In a previous time, "flipping burgers" or carrying out
groceries might be cause for disparaging. We're more civilized today,
naturally, but people are burning out in their jobs.
Jobs are being cut by bean counters who seem to have no feelings
about it. The world seems to be run by business school graduates who
just push numbers around. Many social commentators say the middle class
is pretty much gone.
Much of our anxiety is offset by tech-driven stuff that entertains us. Cheap entertainment is like an opiate.
I have been unemployed since June 2 of 2006. The passage of time
seems staggering. I don't know what the future will bring. I had hoped
to get some interest from bank CDs but that has fizzled, trampling on my
self-image further. I always felt that if all else fails, FDIC-insured
bank accounts could give you some foundation. Indeed we can't count on
anything in this world.
My last 3-4 months at the Morris newspaper remain etched in my
mind. As it turned out, the mid-point of 2006 was the exact time when
newspapers began realizing they were under special pressure or
competition from the new media. It's exactly when a panic point was
reached. They didn't die overnight the way some experts thought was
going to happen. Certainly there has been retrenchment.
Cutting and consolidating have done much to give that business at
least a temporary reprieve. Even technology, the "enemy," has helped
create efficiencies. "Analog" photography used to be a big headache for
newspapers. This department was problematic and expensive for
newspapers. It seemed Rube Goldberg-like. I have likened it to shooting a
torpedo from a World War I submarine. By WWII killing had become much
more efficient.
One of the reasons so much romance surrounds the U.S. Civil War is
that it was the last war where the killing was done by human beings,
before technology wrought so much efficiency.
The Morris newspaper retrenched. It became once a week in its
publication timetable. It was twice a week the entire time I was there.
The news product has been slashed considerably. While there was
considerable grousing about this at the time it was announced, the
public has largely accepted it (not totally though).
The public has apparently accepted the idea that the family of a
deceased individual should pay a fee to have an obituary published "on
paper." There was no charge at all when I was there. In those quaint
times it was assumed the newspaper would publish obits as a news
service.
People paid for advertisements in order to keep their business
brisk - to inform customers and potential customers. Today there's more
emphasis on spending to support those "sig" ads, congrats spreads and
other such stuff. In other words, there's some sort of accomplishment
the community should be proud of, and there's a gesture page with as
much as 3/4 of the space consumed by nothing more than a list of
businesses.
Why are those business names there? Is it because they care so much
more about this accomplishment than others? I suspect it's because they
were willing to get their checkbook out and pay the newspaper. I'm sure
the newspaper's owners in Fargo ND are happy. It's vital for those of
us in Morris to support the North Dakota economy. I guess "frakking"
isn't enough for them.
One prominent media analyst, Allan Mutter, thinks we'll see a
generational shift at some point. The older business owners of today,
over 50, who have their habits ingrained in an earlier time, a time when
you just shrugged and supported the local newspaper and radio station,
will pass on the torch. On come the younger people who have grown up in a
media universe so much different. They will want to target their
prospective customers more economically and efficiently.
With a newspaper you buy an ad that's only effective for a week.
Then you're expected to buy another one. And on and on. Younger people
will see waste in that. They will see newspapers as a one size fits all
product that is cumbersome. They will want to use platforms that are
more sustainable, that don't need such constant maintenance. No need to
talk to an ad salesperson who comes through the door once a week.
I wasn't just a victim of changing times when I left the Morris
paper in 2006. It has been difficult for me to try to write about this. I
was given directives for the sports department that weren't
practicable, thus I think this document could be described as harassing
in nature. Many of the key directives weren't even implemented.
Management had no real intention of implementing them. The idea was for
me to depart.
I think it could have been handled differently. But we live in a
time when the likes of Bain Capital do their thing and raise few
eyebrows. What leverage does the working class even have anymore?
I plan to write more on the directives that were thrown at me toward the end of my Morris Sun Tribune tenure.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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