Comments on: MEAA failing its industry?

By: Dr John Cokley

Dr John Cokley — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:24:04 +0000

Dear Bronwen, thanks for your link to my Crikey article and for your thoughtful support … but what a bizarre string of comments this has generated! Hugh is apparently a very critical writer who thinks journalists are incapable of publishing — they’re not — and Michael looks only to the industrial award model of earning a quid — there are many others. Perhaps you could alert them to this one: http://www.rosenblumtv.com/

all the best for Christmas and keep up the pressure on the MEAA: they’re either a lost cause or one of the solutions.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:24:13 +0000

Journalists have to be on call more than ever before. If a source rings you on the mobile after hours with information about a breaking story you should be prepared to file online.

Most industrial awards don’t provide that flexibility.

Journalists should only work a 38-hour week up to a certain level, but they should be flexible about when they work those hours.

By: Bronwen

Bronwen — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:54:29 +0000

Hi Hugh,
Agree it’s not the best analogy but I think the overall point of the article is valid.

By: Hugh

Hugh — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 22:47:53 +0000

On reflection, I’ll withdraw that last comment – Cokley’s not directly comparing journalism to medicine or the law, but nevertheless it’s not a great analogy.
If the political economy of the media industry that has sustained Journalism until now is unavoidably changing then we need a replacement. At the moment no one is suggesting one. To look at journalism on its own is to only look at part of the picture, part of the problem. The critical piece in the future of media is to continue providing results for advertising clients.
Journalism has run headlong into a crisis in publishing. And that’s where the problem is. The industry needs new publishing models. Journalists can’t solve that problem on their own.

By: Hugh

Hugh — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 21:49:25 +0000

Bron,
Cokley misses the point big time. Apart from anything he ignores the economic imperatives. As Nick Miller has pointed out in another thread on your blog many journalists just want to do journalism, they don’t want to be publishers. Unfortunately, the future of journalism is tied closely to publishing. Journalists – either individually or in collectives – will need to either become publishers as you have, or partner with a publisher if they want to make a living.
And then he compounds the mistake by trying to compare journalism to medicine or the law.
Cokley is just wrong on a whole lot of levels.