Like, Insourcing Is SO 2007

Well, Crosbie's ten-year estimate on the death of the newspaper is probably closer than we thought. Not only do newspaper reporters & editors have to worry about the disappearance of the medium in which their work is published but their jobs might be leaving them even sooner.

Apparently, India's grand outsourcing empire doesn't only do call-centers; they can write and edit, too, and for a good price.

In 2007 the Poynter Institute's media business analyst Rick Edmonds called 2008 the Year of Newspaper Outsourcing. He may be proved correct, but only time will tell. Outsourcing may increase annually. Every year might be labeled the "year of newspaper outsourcing" until even the articles written on outsourcing are outsourced. Maybe even this blog will be outsourced. Well... ok, probably not this blog, or any blog for that matter. However, it doesn't seem too far-fetched to envision a world of newspapers and magazines that have their editing done overseas.

Eureka Reporter columnist Dave Stancliff seemed pretty ticked off at the notion of outsourced copy-editing, etc.

There’s no reason, other than greed disguised as a business decision, to send out our written word to be edited by another country that offers cheaper labor.

As It Stands, the profession of print journalism is facing enough challenges without outsourcing its production, traditions, pride, and obligation to the American people.

I don't know... all I hear is whining. Maybe it's because I am not a journalist by profession so my job isn't on the line. Or maybe it's because it isn't my life goal to become a print journalist, at least in a full-time situation. Print journalism is dying and has been for years if not decades. It's inevitable for it to disappear just as typesetters are no longer sought after. Cry about it for a bit. A good cry never hurt anyone. But just realize that it's not coming back. Sure, some people love to read a physical paper. And I don't foresee print journalism, or at least newspapers, dying altogether for at least a century, but things will only get worse from here on.

The Orange County Register is outsourcing. People don't like it. But what else are they supposed to do? Call it greed if you want to but at the end of the day a newspaper is a business and business is pretty slow at the moment and is always getting slower. Some McClatchy papers are outsourcing, too, or planned on it anyway. Advertising only pays for so much. And now that more and more people are getting their news elsewhere, what is a business supposed to do? Admit defeat and spend its way into bankruptcy court? Or try and fix the problem internally?

I'm not entirely heartless. I may skip beats on occasion, but I do see the negative side of things here, too. Jason Alexander has me pretty P.O.'d at media moguls after visiting this website.

There are alternatives, though. Jim Rosenberg, senior editor at Editor & Publisher suggests leasing a newspaper's plant to a printer instead of outsourcing. It might bring in a bit of cash, but once again, how long can we put pressure on this already-infected wound?