A personal note. Everywhere I turn, I see people that are hurting or stressed out due to loss or uncertainty about the economy. No, I’m not excluded from that. But here in San Diego, some 192 people who passionately dedicated their lives to working on the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper were told within a day of the paper’s ownership change on Monday that their jobs will end in 60 days. I had subscribed to the paper when I worked on the newspaper in Wichita in 1980, and one laid-off reporter was my journalistic role model — I loved all of his local reporting, enterprise pieces and features.
To all those who are hurting, or fearful, or stressed out, perhaps it’s time to ponder the words of this Jerry Herman Broadway showstopper (Herman is shown coming up at the end of it). These definitely aren’t the best times for our country and economy, but the lyrics give us a needed reminder:
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.