The Washington Post defends journalism at the Super Bowl, and the way forward for 2,000 media layoffs

I am quite chuffed, as my British friends say, to be teaming up with GZero Media and joining the #In60Seconds family. Every week, I'll answer your questions about media in just one minute. Subscribe to this series to never miss an episode and get transcripts, and leave your questions for next week in the comments. I'll make sure to add context and links as well because I was never a woman of few words. And follow GZero Media to catch series from my brilliant teammates: Ian Bremmer on the world, Sallie Krawcheck on money, Nick Thompson on tech, Ben White on US politics, and Adam Grant on work.

Was the Washington Post Super Bowl ad an accurate portrayal journalists?

Yes, of some journalists. It looked at the work of foreign correspondents (and national journalists) and their important role in democracy. A lot of journalism, however, is not that. It's people covering city councils and school boards and I think it's really important we talk about that because that's the journalism that is really in danger at the moment.

I say it more elegantly in this thread:

What's the path forward for young journalists after being laid off from companies like Buzzfeed, Huffington Post or VICE?

We've had a terrible couple weeks for media, about 2,000 jobs lost, and that's coming after many thousands of jobs lost in the past few years. Look at non-traditional companies hiring journalists; obviously we're doing this at LinkedIn, Apple has been hiring a lot. Look at where else your skills can go, as well as in media. I think as an industry we need to stop talking about "selling out" when people leave traditional roles in journalism because the reality is that there are fewer and fewer of these jobs and we're going to have to adapt.

Here's what I don't get to say in 40 seconds: I was right there seven years ago. I don't know many people in media who don't have a layoff story. Finding another job in media is hard, and thinking about doing something else is even harder because this profession is a vocation, a part of our identity that is not easily discarded. You have all my sympathy and if I can help, let me know how.

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