NPR Music writer, yakker; Pop Culture Happy Hour and New Music Friday host; long-ago A.V. Club editor and Onion copy editor; snack-eater; dad.
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Wrote this reply to someone describing independent journalism -- newsletters, Substack, podcasts, etc. -- as a replacement for institutions like WaPo. ("The change we need," was how it was described.) Cannot overstate how much forcing journalists into self-employment is NOT the change we need.
It's not, though. To do their best work, amazing reporters need not only stuff like health insurance, but also editors, fact-checkers, IT support, equipment, security and training in hostile environments, lawyers, brilliant colleagues of every stripe... losing that infrastructure is devastating.
