On the Internet, nobody hears you cry. Sees you cry. Or cares if you cry.
The trolls can leave their wisecracks:
"Awww, boo hoo!" "Put on your big girl panties and get REAL jobs!" "I get my news instantly with Google! Mmmmmm! FREEE!"
Don't expect anything better from the NPR crowd. The New York Times writers. Those types.
"Well, the trope is that the zeitgeist has led to a new paradigm." Ah. There you are.
BEBE, a store with 100's of outlets, went under last week. Coca-Cola laid off 1,000 employees who thought nobody would ever stop guzzling sugary drinks. Book and magazine publishers shiver at night.
You never hear of problems at Amazon, though. Google is doing just fine, thanks. And Ebay, where book piracy is an every day glimpse at auction headers with "ebook" or "PDF" or "KINDLE" in the title, continues to laugh all the way to the bank. Their phone support may be in Guam or Pakistan, but that's not because they laid off Americans. They never hired them.
What can you say?
Since I'm not paid by the word, or paid at all here, I won't say much.
All I can say is that the Internet has changed the way we ignore or cheat each other. Until there's some bizarre bandwidth meltdown, or companies stop thinking that anyone looks at banner ads, this nightmare will not end.
ESPN? Are you KIDDING? Who the hell watches ESPN for NEWS anymore?
The Internet has every Decider, Insider, Gawker, Newser and freelancer stealing the news for their own site, and Google and Yahoo happily offering a news page with every possible headline on it, why stick with ESPN, or any other TV news site?
As for columnists, who needs 'em? Whatever your favorite subject, from boxing to baseball, there are FORUMS, where EVERYONE has an opinion, and you can add your own.
ESPN is mainly axing news reporters, and only keeping the loudest balloons. If you are opinionated and have a big "love 'em or hate 'em" following, you might be safe. ESPN needs to cut costs, but Stephen A. Smith is untouched, and he keeps his three million dollars a year.
Surprising? No, there are radio stations where news reporters and anchors are let go, and maybe cheap interns take their place, while a Howard Stern or Rush Limbaugh continues to thrive. "News" is no longer valued, and actual reporters are no longer needed. All you need are people capturing things on their cell phones and tossing them on the Internet. The epidemic of fake news, or bloggers being quoted, or reaction on Twitter being quoted in news pieces, show how devalued and cheapened radio and TV news and newspapers are.
Sports highlights? Why bother with ESPN for that? First off, they might not HAVE the highlight you want. Most any major PPV sporting event is bootlegged onto YouTube the moment it's been aired, and quite often ESPN, being responsible journalists, won't show you the highlights because they they know they can't claim "fair use" or simply say, as they do on eBay, "I either own the rights, or have licensed them, or I am allowed to do this under Constant Commons rules and the Putin theory that Copyright is Copy Wrong."
Let's remember, ESPN has scuttled ON-AIR talent, and NOT their Internet website staff. No, it's easier to keep cheap writers on the Net, and ones who work just to have a byline so they can see sports events free. It's no great trick to replace an Internet writer at any time, if that writer has the nerve to demand health insurance or a pension plan, or a raise.
People were predicting the bloodbath at E.S.P.N. - Extra Sensory Perception? NO.
It was inevitable.
And how did most people discover whether their favorite talking heads and opinionated jocks were fired? TWITTER!
We have the Internet, little people at the TV headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. WE DON'T NEED YOU ANYMORE.
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