Check it out, Nick and I and Rajah Bose are quoted (as is Ben Shors, and Brian Immel is mentioned) in this WSU Magazine article by Hannelore Sudermann about the depressing state of newspapers in Washington state. The story feels a little like a mini-Spokesman/Evergreen reunion.

Even as a journalist, it’s kind of strange to see our familiar stories all organized in print. It makes those long days answering calls at the Spokesman seem like a very long time ago. The story includes a piece of my “journalism history and goals” essay for my Columbia application, which I guess I may as well share for context. Keep in mind that I was writing with the intention of getting accepted, though I think it’s all pretty genuine. Also keep in mind how different things were a year ago when I wrote this on plane trips from New York to Minneapolis and Minneapolis to Seattle; in some ways all of 2009 has been my successful attempt to postpone the personal despair of a shrinking industry.

I want to make sure I don’t come off as dismissive of the small towns, the small papers, the weeklies and the talented former coworkers keeping their communities informed. You all know I admire that so much, and I don’t think it’s condescending to lament talented people not getting the recognition and influence they deserve. I almost wrote another one of my long meditations on ambition and loyalty and East Coast vs. the West, but I’ll spare you all.

Yesterday brought another reminder that newspapers are not okay. Somewhere between the people who will sentimentally cling to print and the people who will triumphantly tally their Twitter followers are a whole lot of people losing the journalism jobs that defined their lives. Stories go untold, talents and knowledge go wasted. Part of the joy of school is insulating ourselves, however temporarily, from the pessimism that looms in every newsroom. The illusion doesn’t hold.

One final note: I got the last word in the magazine article, which is fun. I said it in real life with the emphasis on “should”: “If we’re doing something we think is important, we should be working hard for it.”