Want to be a journalist? You'll make more walking dogs

It’s tougher, I would argue, for those trying to make a career as a journalist in the U.S. than it has been in Canada. Why, you ask? Well, newspapers, for one thing, rely heavily on ads from the real estate sector and from financial institutions. Compared to the U.S. over the last five years, Canada’s housing market and banks have done much better than American’s housing market and banks. Canada had no real estate bubble which  burst and Canada, along among G7 countries, never had to bail out its country’s banks by taking an equity/ownership position in those banks.  Which means firms in those sectors in Canada kept buying advertising in newspapers in Canada while their U.S. cousins cut ad budgets and, in doing so, helped kill newspapers there.  Still, this exchange of e-mails, on a listserv for investigative reporters, is a bit sad for those in my biz:

—–Original Message—–
From: Margot Williams
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 1:24 PM
Subject: Re:  job opportunity

FYI:
We have some superb investigative researchers with CAR [computer-assisted reporting – Akin] skills here in [Washington] DC and many of them are now freelancing after being bought out/laid off.

Here are rates for dog walking in DC.
$18/ walk for a single dog
$20/ walk for two dogs
Our standard visit is 30-minutes (usually means a 20-25 minute walk).
Prices are constant regardless of time of day or day of week. Initial in-person consultations are free. We do not offer discounts for shorter visits, but do pro-rate longer visits (such as 45 minutes).

Margot Williams
NPR
On Thu, Jan 3, 2013 at 12:19 PM, Brooke Williams wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I’m sending out this great opportunity for a part-time gig on behalf
> of my colleague….
>
> Research assistant wanted for Washington investigative news project.
> DC resident preferred but not essential. Basic CAR skills needed. Pay
> is $15 per hour, with cap of 200 hours. Send inquiries to
> [xxxx]

>
> Best,
> Brooke
>
> Brooke Williams | Investigative Reporter Fellow | Harvard University
> Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
> (202) 615-3551 | @reporterbrooke