Overheard in an undisclosed location in the Transcon offices: "Yeah,
he's good. He's good. He started freelancing, so he moved into the basement."

That is a good enough start as any to introduce this mean little gem, from Mediabistro. You have probably gathered that I have a penchant for American media blogs, and I happened across this open letter to YOURS TRULY and YOU, TOO! Go forth class of '05 into the abyss that is journalism and enjoy being eaten by the sharks. The "j-school is for losers" argument seems to be en vogue again, so go head and get drunk as you read Greg Lindsay's article.

Of course, I can't go a day without bigging up CBC.ca/arts, so today's kudos go to the ever-kudo-deserving Katrina Onstad, who writes a great piece on the new J. Lo freakshow. I mean, film. I mean, Jennifer Anthony.

Posted by at 05:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Heeey, long time no blog. It's been a series of downs (with a few ups) since the RRJ and life gets so busy, one forgets to blog. No worries, I have all kinds of useful nuggets to share.

The Blogwagon: Much to the shagrin of some and the anticipation of others, The Huffington Post launched this week. Included are accounts of man's search for dungarees, The Pope vs. Evil, Quincy Jones explaining what God's job is, and a scary picture of a womanly King Tut. The blog isn't as delicious as Gawker or Fuggingitup, but I did enjoy the bit on Kurt Vonnegut. It's good if you don't appreciate sardonic biting humour, you know, like your mother's blog.

For fellow budding freelancers: I thought this little legal tidbit on reprint rights was an interesting read. I know it's American, but Lexis Nexis documents Canadian articles, too. You could be rich and not know it! Does anyone know if this has been tested in Canada?

Wired asks readers to fact check: Wired will now ask freelance journos to submit source lists and it seems that they might even fact check. Call me a snotty fresh out of school intern, but when will we learn? Big media needs to step up to the plate, spend the extra money (asking for a source list is free, even) and start looking into facts as mandatory, not luxuries.

Okay, I'd better get back to hitting "refresh" on JeffGaulin.com!

Posted by at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

found the following on gawker...if this is what the ivy league-bred journalists face, what the hell are the rest of us supposed to do:

Total daily newspaper circulation, 2005: 47,374,033
Total daily newspaper circulation, 2001: 55,578,046
Decrease in daily newspaper circ in four years: 15%

Total Sunday newspaper circulation, 2005: 51,073,104
Total Sunday newspaper circulation, 2001: 59,090,364
Decrease in Sunday newspaper circ in four years: 14%

Total number of newspaper jobs, 2005: 54,134
Total number of newspaper jobs, 2001: 56,393
Decrease in newspaper jobs in four years: 5%

Tuition at Columbia J-School, 2004-5: $34,104
Number of students scheduled to graduate from the Columbia J-School in two weeks: About 210

Number of j-students right now realizing what a colossally dumb career choice they made, running across West 116th Street, and hurling themselves into the Hudson: About 210

Sources: ABC/E&P/NAA; ASNE; Columbia

Posted by at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)