Jim Romenesko, a legendary media blogger considered a must-read among journalists, marked a kind of retirement Wednesday on his blog. In a note to readers under a recent post, Romenesko appended a strikethrough to an announcement that he would be posting sporadically while on vacation, substituting “retirement” for “vacation.” The note also says his blog is no longer accepting sponsored posts or job ads. Via email, Romenesko tells Poynter that he intends to remain active on Twitter, Facebook and other social media channels and that he will post “when I see something that interests me.”
Journalists are finding that sometimes it’s better to be the brand than to work for a brand. In the new economic landscape, many journalists have decided (or had the decision made for them) to leave their newspaper and news organization jobs and create their own branded presence on the Web. But the road to financial success can be long and filled with pitfalls, including the sticky ethics issue of being the editorial and advertising sides all rolled into one. Though some smart brand builders are finding the rewards to be great.
How Jim Romenesko Changed Journalism
Romenesko’s aggregation site made us all pay more attention to news about the news. We learned in a quicker, more complete way about layoffs, plagiarism scandals, buyouts, major reporting efforts and big journalism hires.
