Sam Zell and the Recovering Journalist Rorschach Test

Thanks to Tribune Co. mogul Sam Zell, we now have a handy Recovering Journalist Rorschach test.

If you watch the video of Zell muttering "fuck you" after responding to an Orlando Sentinel photog's insistent questions about journalistic quality and think, "Right on, Sam," you're a Recovering Journalist.

If you don't, you're still stuck in denial, a state of mind that has no idea that journalism is a business, doesn't get that it matters (far) more what readers think about stories than what journalists think of them, pines for the extremely bygone days when newspapers dominated the news universe—and is walking straight off a cliff clinging firmly to all of those romantic, noble but no longer realistic notions. Buh-bye. Nice working with you. You're toast.

Sorry folks. Zell's response may have been a bit salty, but he said exactly what every interview subject has thought at the hands of a pushy reporter with an agenda. I personally think Zell's way over his head at Tribune, carrying an enormous debt load in a bad economy that's going to sink him and the company's retirement fund sooner rather than later—but damn, he's fun to watch. He's challenging journalism business orthodoxy in ways that are long overdue.

Keep calling 'em like you see 'em, Sam. Some people—alas, maybe a lot of people—in this business really need to hear it.

Comments

[Yoni Greenbaum]

Right on, Mark!