“Young journalists who once dreamed of trotting the globe in pursuit of a story are instead shackled to their computers, where they try to eke out a fresh thought or be first to report even the smallest nugget of news — anything that will impress Google algorithms and draw readers their way.” -The New York Times, “In a World of Online News, Burnout Starts Younger“

Newspaper and magazine websites have long been listing their most popular, most read, and most emailed stories in prominent places. Organizations such as Gawker, Bloomberg News, CNET, and others, have tied reporters’ pay, in part, to how many times readers click on their articles. This so-called Pay-Per-View journalism has been heralded as one of the possible saviours of journalism in the internet age, but it’s taking its toll. In a recent New York Times article, the Chicago Tribune’s managing editor was quoted, “You can’t really avoid the fact that page views are increasingly the coin of the realm.” By juking headlines to drive search traffic, guiding coverage toward what is most popular, and endless promotion and “branding” for both media companies and individual journalists (definitely read that link), newspapers and magazines are doing whatever they can to stay relevant and solvent. One side effect, though, is that journalists are burning out younger than ever before. The 24 hour push for clicks, shares, and tweets, is driving young reporters into the ground. “At a paper, your only real stress point is in the evening when you’re actually sitting there on deadline, trying to file,” Jim VandeHei, Politico’s executive editor, told the New York Times. “Now at any point in the day starting at 5 in the morning, there can be that same level of intensity and pressure to get something out.”

(via Slashdot)

Reporters without Borders is reporting this morning that twelve journalists were among those killed in a horrible election-related attack in the Philippines, in the Maguindanao province of the southern island of Mindanao. The New York Times has a broader report about the attack and context of other recent violence in the province. Our thoughts go out to the families of all of those killed and injured.

“Never in the history of journalism have the news media suffered such a heavy loss of life in one day,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We convey our condolences and sympathy to all journalists in the Philippines, who are in state of shock after this appalling massacre.”

The press freedom organisation added: “We have often condemned the culture of impunity and violence in the Philippines, especially Mindanao. This time, the frenzied violence of thugs working for corrupt politicians has resulted in an incomprehensible bloodbath. We call for a strong reaction from the local and national authorities.”

Unfortunately this attack is the latest in a province with a history of election-related violence, related to an institutionalized “gun culture” in the country. The Philippines’ President’s adviser on the island is reported as saying, “Everyone should be disarmed. Anything less will not work.”

Typepad, the blogging platform, has created a journalism bailout program. While getting a free blog and the possibility of revenue from advertisements won’t save journalism, it might get the wheels in motion for more than a few of the recently laid off. It’s a weird approach, and it probably won’t pay your rent for a long time if ever, but it’s worth a try. Here’s a (month-old) announcement on Six Apart’s blog (Six Apart runs Typepad) which talks about how and why the bailout was created and what the response has been so far. (via this AskMetafilter question)

The Committee to Protect Journalists has released their 2008 census of jailed journalists, which includes the finding that there are now more online journalists imprisoned than print journalists. The most common charges are unrelated to journalism, charges that have been trumped up to make for a speedy incarceration. The CJP has also published detailed accounts of each imprisoned journalist.

And while the list of countries where these journalists are jailed is not surprising, there was a disturbing scene of police intimidation just last week against the former publisher of Liberation in France (via Foreign Policy’s blog).