News Is a Part of My Life, But Not as a Profession

Earlier this week somebody I respect asked if I ever thought about getting back into the news business -- trying to build Faneuil Media again.

The answer is unequivocally, no.

HubSpot is an extremely rewarding place to work; we are building something important, and it is filled with people I learn from.

Beyond HubSpot, there's a more fundamental reason I don't plan to go back to the news business: Today journalism is less a career path, and more something people just do. I was a photojournalist last night when I took pictures of the fireworks.  I was a trade journalist this morning when I posted video of a talk I gave last month. I was an editor yesterday when I linked to the Kremlin's video blog.

I got into the news business because I love to create content and help spread information. I can do that with my iPhone and my blog now, so there's no need to endure the spiritual and financial pain of work in a shrinking industry.

As Magdalena Georgieva, one of our many fantastic summer interns at HubSpot, put it in her job interview this spring, "news is always something that will be a part of my life, but not as a profession."

Same for me.

Comments

[Jamie Lin]

Indeed, Rick. Indeed.

I also wrote a piece on Free vs. Future of Journalism on my blog: http://linjamie.com/2009/06/30/why-does-online-information-want-to-be-free/