links for 2009-08-24

According to the blog Paper Cuts, newspapers lost 15,974 jobs in 2008 and another 10,000 in the first half of 2009. That's 26,000 fewer reporters, editors, photographers, and columnists to cover the world, analyze political and economic affairs, root out corruption and abuse, and write about culture, entertainment, and sports.

The membership of the Military Reporters and Editors Association has fallen from six hundred in 2001 to under one hundred today.

The worst offenders are those who see social media as simply another platform for marketing communications, blasting press releases and other promotions without regard. In a discussion within Adaptive Path, a colleague said, "It's not a megaphone, it's an ear trumpet!" And while that is definitely a more refined notion, it's insufficient. While it makes sense to track social media to see what's being said about you, if you don't engage, you're simply not part of the conversation.