Win,
I was at last night's presentation. I was a little apprehensive about asking this question in that forum so I hope you'll indulge me. . . . I have been a working journalist for more than 30 years. . . . The fact is that after a long career with several national awards, I was unceremoniously laid off from my daily newspaper job at the end of October. Although the panel gave a number of good tips, some of which I will follow up on, my problem is straightforward: Employers hear "30 years of experience," or if I omit that fact and still manage to get an interview, they see a 56-year-old head full of gray hair and that's as far as it goes. Why hire me when, if there is any job at all, they can fill it with a kid half my age, at half the salary, one they see as more attuned to the youth market? This is the second time I've been laid off because of downsizing in less than a decade, and my prospects at this point are bleak. Not only is there no retirement in my future, but it's dicey whether I can even survive and support my family on the meager savings I've got left.

Also, while it's necessary to keep up with trends and technology, I can spend a lot of time, energy and effort to learn all the new bells and whistles, and then in a year or so, the technocrats invent a whole new generation, and you have to learn once again. All these wonderful toys are just tools, after all; the content is supposed to be the point. But the gearheads seem to think the technology itself is the point, as though a brand new high-tech hammer is more important than the house you build it with.

I probably sound bitter, angry and worried. Yeah, I am. If there were any indication that things were going to get better, I might be a little less so, but I don't see that happening. For most of the 22-year-olds in last night's audience, a temporary setback early in their career is part of the colorful, fun time they'll look back on when they're my age. At my age, it's not colorful or fun; it's pathetic and scary. What do I do? I don't expect you to have an answer.
Alan

Hi Alan,
I can understand how you feel. It is a frustrating market, generally, and specifically in most parts of media. The key to what you say is the salary. The problem is not that by dint of doing it longer, that you get to have more money, it is that you are worth more money, so people pay you more. If you are writing articles that a 25-year-old can write, then you are barking up the wrong tree.

Where do you have a competitive advantage and what do you like to write? For instance, if you like to write about what 25-year-olds like to write about, then write about those things for an audience of 60-year-olds. Where is your experience an advantage? And who cares what you look like if you can write? How can you write pieces that will speak for themselves? Only by going for an audience who appreciates what you bring to the table will you be able to earn what you are worth.

On the subject of technology, much of it is free and the basics, which is all you should need to know is not that time consuming to learn. The medium is only part of the message. Don't let it screen you out.

Hope that helps a little. The good news is that you can still write.
Win