Being optimistic is worth the effort

When you get a bunch of newspaper reporters and editors together to talk about the future, the discussion can get cynical pretty fast. 

As we ate our tacos during the lunch-hour roundtable discussion at a journalism training hosted by the Montana Newspaper Association and the University of Montana in April, we heard from Washington Post opinions editor Michael Duffy, who shared a vast amount of insight. He also shared widespread concern about the nation’s increased polarization. Morale was low, and it didn’t help that Lee Enterprises had just cut around 15 journalism jobs around the state. 

There we were. Survivors. The last of a dying breed? Maybe so. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the nation has lost more than a quarter of its newspapers since 2005, with the number of journalists declining by 60%. The nation is on track to lose one third of its papers in the next two years, The Post article said, adding that two newspapers are disappearing in the United States every week.