oh, woe is us

evidence mounts that the news media is out-of-touch, overly pessimistic, self-satisified (even if not warranted)...
one theory chalks this up to the legacy of watergate...

now, Daniel Gross wonders "Are Journalists Underpaid?"
[granted, this piece may be a satire...but i didn't grasp that]
some of the high(or low)lights:

It could also damage journalism. The journalists who write these stories about people who can't afford to live in New York can't afford to live in New York, either. And that's a trend that may prove just as corrosive to establishment media as any disruptive technology.

or bogus reporting like nyt jayson blair, cbs memogate, cnn eason jordan saying military targets journalists,.... there's just too many corrosive elements

here's where i believe this must be satire, because it's so over the top

Journalists have long suffered from what David Brooks...identified as status-income disequilibrium. Journalists received low wages compared to many of their peers and neighbors but enjoyed higher prestige and job security.

one would think the prestige and job security would be enough to offset the perceived "low wages".

Most experienced reporters and editors at the publications in question earn salaries in the low six figures. They can expect salaries to rise by a few percentage points a year, if they're lucky. Salaries that barely pierce six figures certainly aren't insulting to most Americans. But everything is relative. A couple doing quite well—he's an editor at the Journal, she's a reporter at the Times—could make up to $250,000. But after New York taxes, New York child care, and New York housing, you're not left with much. In New York City, you can't buy a co-op or a condo with only 10 percent down. In most desirable suburbs, you can't buy a starter house for less than $700,000. When children arrive, the couple has to choose between living in an expensive town with good public schools (which means long, painful commutes), or the prospect of private-school tuition at $25,000 per kid per year. Given the types of lives many journalists wish to lead—and think they're entitled to lead by virtue of their education and positions—the wages aren't anywhere near sufficient. [emphasis added]

the best part is when Gross concludes that NY journos may be "bourgeois and ambitious"...

¶ - nitish @ 10:24 AM