I think it’s far more likely that we’ll see news organizations with smaller full-time staffs that rely more on the voluntary or small-pay involvement of the community. I think that many journalists need to get over the idea that they’re inherently better at “news” than someone who isn’t a professional journalist. If the lawyer down the street can be a valuable addition to the paper, and is willing to do it for free or for a nominal fee, just because she cares about the community, then that should absolutely be encouraged.

Nisha – I think newspapers in general, and the NYT is the least guilty of all the ones I can think of, have been slow to realize that online they are competing with a whole host of services. There’s no reason a traditional newspaper would think, immediately, that they are competing with yelp. But that’s exactly what they’re doing.

It’ll be interesting to see if it’s too late, or if papers still have some fight left in them.

I fear for a future of journalism left to “semi-pros,” done on the cheap. And I say that not just as a journalist who recently took a buyout and is faced with the real possibility of leaving the profession because it may not pay the bills.

Readers see right through this ruse. My mother is an avid newspaper reader and is disheartened by all the “guest writers” in her local paper. It’s not fooling her.

http://tinyurl.com/6au7eo

Not even the online portions of newspaper company operations are safe any longer. I was a Web editor and producer for four years but was told I could be laid off earlier this summer if we didn’t have enough people taking buyouts.

I decided to take control of my own career and accepted the buyout, but I am frightfully worried for my colleagues who are still working at newspaper companies.