Frank Michael Russell

Content and Presentation

I'm off this week, and not getting paid, which gives me plenty of free time to think about whether there's a future in the news business. (It's hard to be optimistic given Hearst's decisions to shut down or make huge staff cuts at its newspapers in San Francisco and Seattle.)

One of the industry's most difficult questions is: Can we make enough money from the Web to make up for all the money we used to make from the printed newspaper? (Or can we at least make enough to pay for effective newsgathering staffs?)

Does Place Matter?

Will Silicon Valley survive the "Great Recession"? Absolutely, says a long article by Richard Florida in the Atlantic. L.A., Seattle, Chicago, New York will be OK, too. (For New York, even despite the loss of high-paying financial jobs. In fact, Florida suggests, New York might be better off without them.) Why? Educated, productive, creative people live in these places, so other educated, productive, creative people will want to live there, too.