Paralysis or duty-driven

Duty-driven journalists sometimes meet other journalists who have recently suffered a personal or professional setback. After experiencing such a disappointment, a journalist may go through a reactive change or even worse, become jaded! I also noticed recently that some journalists are creating a supportive environment in which a jaded duty-driven journalist can work through this difficult period.

Ironically, this help is occurring on the Web, the very medium that is getting all the attention. The Web is now providing a sanctuary for decompressing their thoughts, a sense of healing, and a new-found strength for some journalists. On Aaron Spence's Web page, he discusses how to deal with the growing online journalism craze. Aaron Spence is supportive by provided simple advice and opinions that relate to online journalism issues.

While most of the jadedness is clearly directed at the migration of print to Web, it is easy to read the emotionally charged arguments (along with many factually supported oppositions, too) and instantly feel empathy towards their viewpoint.

Figuring out what to do next is not always easy when the journalistic culture has been turned upside down in recent years. The jouralism industry is not the same structured and disciplined system that it once was, but the web can be that new medium. What are the warning signs? I’m wondering, if duty-driven journalists are often ignoring strong messages that the web is here to stay.