About twelve years ago, according to columnist Bruce Bartlett, a pal called him up and suggested he write a column for the Detroit News. He agreed, and eventually the column got syndicated.
But now Bartlett is hanging it up. No more columns, thank you; there’s more money and more editorial control in writing books. In fact, he reckons, “the demand for traditional column writing has pretty much dried up[.]”
We all know the reason. Newspapers are declining and they just don’t have the money for columnists any more. There’s too much competition from the amateurs on the internet. Editors would rather pick up the bland pablum that comes at “no additional cost from the New York Times and Washington Post news services.”
You can’t argue with that.
But don’t despair. Bartlett thinks
there will always be a market for quality commentary, however, and some day someone will figure out a better way to make money from it.
But in the mean time the market stinks.
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