The Death of Quality Local News: Why I Blew the Whistle on Journatic's Practices

I went public about my experience at Journatic because people should know how their local newspapers are being hollowed out

by Ryan Smith

 

HBO's new late-night series The Newsroom is set in the busy backstage of a CNN-like cable news TV show, but had the creators of the premium cable show really wanted to expose the most shocking behind-the-scenes realities of modern journalism, they'd instead have had to cast actor Jeff Daniels as a reporter for a company named Journatic.

Perhaps not even Aaron Sorkin could pen a compelling drama about copy-editors staring at computers alone in their living rooms, or outsourced reporters silently typing stories on their MacBooks at far-flung Starbucks in St Louis or Manila. Nonetheless, a quiet revolution is happening in the American newspaper industry and it has not been televised. Don't feel bad that you haven't noticed or heard of Journatic – I hadn't either until after nearly a year of working for its sister outfit Blockshopper.