Today marks the final publication day of the Hearst-owned Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper. It's continuing on the web, but it's already decided that it can do without an aviation correspondent among other things and so the greatly respected James Wallace is out of a job. (A Seattle publisher without a heavyweight aviation correspondent - interesting concept huh?)This is going to happen to quite a few newspapers, starting in the US but also in the UK and Europe. There are some intensely irritating media-folk, whose vanity I won't indulge by naming, stuffing their conceited opinions about this down everyone's throat. I loathe them, and I'm sick of hearing their poisonous views, whether they're right or wrong. They know who they are.
If you're in publishing these days you know the score, and most of us are labouring to re-invent our world accordingly. The P-I didn't quite get the print/electronic mixture right, and you could see that. But we don't need these assholes dancing on newspapers' graves.
Anyway, back to Jim Wallace. I barely know him - but I like his stuff. He is in that magic space where he knows as much as most of us in the pure aviation publishing world, but is sufficiently removed to be able to make sense of it for a newspaper audience. That's a good bit harder than writing for a professional aviation audience.
Jim's planning to blog at http://wallaceonaerospace.com/ - which doesn't provide a feed yet, but at least bookmark it to remind yourself to keep in touch when it's up and running. And he's looking for work: jawallace.wallace@gmail.com
Best of luck Jim.
on March 17, 2009 7:28 PM | Reply
It won't work - a purely electronic newspaper never will. We need to have the physical paper routine each day, and take it wherever you go - loo (with a pencil) included - I have never reduced my paper/magazine subscription except for the Spectator which is hideously expensive.