Working Class journalism is back, baby!

Rumors of the death of the 4th Estate were greatly exaggerated, instead, a renaissance is occurring

This is an installment of the “Ship’s Log” series, more personal entries on the beats we cover for paid subscribers.

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I think the reason I managed to make it in freelance journalism is that when I started out, I didn’t care if I died.

That probably sounds dramatic, but it’s true. In this modern epoch of the fourth estate, as local newspapers and even international newsrooms fold like a poker player with a poor hand, we freelancers are the disposable foot soldiers of legacy media companies, and saying things like “I will go to an area very few journalists will,” is an effective way to stand out among the dozens of pitches editors get every day.

This is a symptom of a larger problem, what some are calling a “market failure” of journalism. But does the crumbling of a global business really mean the end of journalism? Despite the editorials by columnists with 6-figure salaries already writing the epitaph, I strongly suspect not.

It may be counter-intuitive, but in many ways, journalism is going back to its roots. You don’t need a degree from an Ivy-League school, a well-known family name, and two years of family-funded traveling abroad to get a nice prestige staff job and get your stories out to the world.

You need a phone. And maybe a computer, but even that part is optional.