It happened again.
Another newsroom has been shut down and I am out of a job. Again.
When I got into this business, there were no signs of the instability that would crater so many publications and decimate the profession. I had every reason to think I would spend the rest of my life doing what I loved.
I am not a job hopper by nature.
But to string some relevant cliches together: Life happens. Technology happens. And business is business.
It’s time to move forward.
This last one was a non-traditional newsroom. We were a small, but mighty operation. A handful of laid-off journalists making a go of a legal news website that had moved from purely sponsored content to legitimate news.
This one didn’t last quite a year. But we sure had fun while we were doing the work.
There were three of us at the core: The editor (our fearless leader), and two staff writers. I was one of the writers.
We all worked from home. But we still had the newsroom mentality. So, every Monday morning, we had a phone call. We’d talk about national events and we’d plan out the week. We offered each other advice and sources. And then we’d get to work.
I searched for ideas, kept a running list for everyone and wrote about legal issues, from COVID-19 vaccine challenges to LGBTQ rights to Fourth Amendment search issues involving cell phone location technology.
It was supremely interesting work. I love learning new things. And this job had all kinds of opportunities for that.
But the website owner couldn’t make the numbers work. And two days after my birthday, I got the call. We were closing shop.
So here I am again. Looking for new opportunities.
I’m about to write the next chapter. I have no idea how it will unfold.