Poor Winners

Editor & Publisher rounds up an all-star crew of woe-is-media whiners, and asks them morose questions about "Journalism's Credibility Problem." The results are about as gruesome as you'd expect, but 13-time bestselling author David Halberstam deserves special credit for this statement:

The industry as a whole is in trouble because people at the top are taking out too much money and driving the profits up.

I can ease that pain for you, David! Meanwhile, the questions put to the panel are windows into a nervous, capitalism-shy little world. My faves: "New technology is part of the problem—but also a solution?" and "Is heavy competition the real villain—or just an excuse?" The latter of which provoked this laudable snort from former Washington Post executive editor Ben "Jason Robards" Bradlee:

Our grandfathers were working when there were five or six papers in a city and they got through it all right. It is a competitive trade. If you think the competition is too great—poor babies!! I don't think it is the right excuse. We are not competing against MSNBC.