Pressmen Panicking about Future

Journalists can whine about the demise of the newspaper all they want—at least their research and writing skills can be used to create content for other media, including online publications (the question of whether these other media will make any money remains separate). But what about the pressmen? The Globe has an article today on the tenuous future of newspaper pressmen, whose ability to run huge printing presses is less and less in demand. A strong family tradition and strong union presence for pressmen seemed to guarantee that such jobs would be around for, if not forever, at least long enough for a good career. But with the Globe offering buyouts, print papers going online-only, and the Globe's future up for a big vote in about two weeks, will local pressmen with "lifetime" jobs even have employment next week? Some pressmen are looking into new careers like green energy, labor management, library work. Maybe they can someday be on the forefront of making news, not printing it.