I speak as a computer guy. I got into the industry back in the early 90s when they were revered - everyone wanted a computer guru and they were treated with respect. They did everything right, they learned their stuff, they did have some cool toys, but they didn’t abuse anyone’s trust and they were worth their weight in silicon chips.
Then, as happened with Mechanics and Lawyers before us, the industry went through a horrid change. Part of it could have been that because we were all making good money and were treated well within our respective companies the field was flooded with people who saw only the money and the respect. People didn’t see the work any more. They weren’t interested in making computers work right or help their clients, they were interested in an IT salary, a corner office, and a bunch of great toys connected to the internet.
Computer guys took on the connotation of cheating, sneaking, money-spending whirlpools who surfed for dirty pictures when we weren’t playing video games on company time and property. We couldn’t be bothered to show up to help our actual clients, and even at $50k salaries we couldn’t answer basic questions that your co-worker could have solved for you in seconds.
Computer guys are making a slow comeback, but at more realistic expectations. It has become the search for the right computer guy, not just any computer guy. Companies do treat excellent computer workers well, but they don’t give that respect and money away any more. Entry-level talent is put in entry-level positions. Competition has brought the average salary down realistically.
I don’t work in computers any more. But I am seeing the same cycle now attacking journalists. They are where computer guys were about five years ago. I can see it in myself - basically a news consumer of the first order. No longer do I go to the news just to find out what is going on in the world. I am forced to sift through news sources to find the one that presents that news in a me-friendly way. This (of course) pissess off my political opposites, just as I think they’re hopelessly misinformed by their own reporters. We are trying to consume the same news, but we’re more interested in shaping what we see to match what we already thought that the very consumption of news has become a competitive sport - the kind you hear about in the stands of Great Britain where the fans beat each other bloody and senseless.
I don’t know what the solution is. The accusations are the same on both sides. I will say what I feel and I bet that’s exactly what a liberal would say about me. I believe if they actually read the raw news, got real numbers - numbers that spoke the truth rather than being manipulated to an agenda - they would agree with me. I believe they speak with raw emotion - emotion that was shaped by someone else to play on nothing more than their guilt - ironically guilt they shouldn’t even have. Facts don’t seem to be important to them, only the story.
Where does this come from? Is it some insidious plan? Is it the leftovers of an Anti-American organization that was defeated but its momentum still rolls on (such as the KGB, which may make a horrid comeback)? Or is it actually greed - a news organization that twists facts into the most sensational headline it can in order to suck people in and make them read (so that they have numbers to show their advertisers)?
I don’t know, but the bottom line is that, like Car Mechanics, Lawyers, and Computer Guys before them, the field of Journalism is sinking and has still not hit its low point.
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