Too early for me

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Sometimes in journalism, an editor has to work around crazy deadlines. This week is one of those weeks. We had early Thanksgiving deadlines, so instead of putting the paper to bed on Nov. 20, we finished a day early. So we started the Nov. 29 issue two days early. That means, in order to get anything done, I have to get something done. And that means, this Editor’s Note will go in the can early.

I don’t have much to say. I’m looking forward to the turkey that I’ll eat two days from now, which will be 14 days from the day this issue is finally replaced on the newsstands—so don’t expect me to be too relevant.

It’s always easy to talk about the future, though. For me, I’m going to start a master’s degree. I’m not going to kill myself over it—I figure I can handle around two classes as long as one is after hours. I’ve been accepted in the English Department for the Creative Writing program. I wanted to get a Master’s in Fine Arts in Writing, but such a program does not yet exist at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’ve had another thought along those lines, though.

The dailies have been laying off senior reporters and hiring kids who don’t have the institutional memories of those grizzled vets. People think it’s financial. I don’t happen to believe it. I think those news outlets prefer young people because technology is in their DNA in ways it’s not for those old-timers. A journalist who graduated 10 years ago probably did not have classes on digital layout, digital photography, digital sound, databasing—none of the stuff we use on a daily basis now. In other words, college grads beyond a 10-year-ago matriculation are already obsolete. Some even took pride in not succumbing to the new technology, until it was too late.

All is not lost, though. There are many ways to get current. For one, go back to school.