Why journalists deserve low pay

Intrinsic value involves things that are good in and of themselves, such as beauty, truth and harmony. Instrumental value comes from things that facilitate action and achievement, including awareness, belonging and understanding. Journalism produces only instrumental value. It is important not in itself, but because it enlightens the public, supports social interaction, and facilitates democracy.

Economic value is rooted in worth and exchange. It is created when finished products and services have more value - as determined by consumers - than the sum of the value of their components. To comprehend journalistic value creation, we need to focus on the benefits it provides. Journalism creates functional, emotional and self-expressive benefits for consumers. Functional benefits include providing useful information and ideas. Emotional benefits include a sense of belonging and community, reassurance and security, and escape.

Self-expressive benefits are provided when individuals identify with the publication's perspectives or opinions, or when they're empowered to express their own ideas. These benefits used to produce significant economic value. Not today. That's because producers and providers have less control over the communication space than ever before.

In the past, the difficulty and cost of operation, publication and distribution severely limited the number of content suppliers. Here's his argument for why journalists deserve low pay :. Wages are compensation for value creation. And journalists simply aren't creating much value these days. Until they come to grips with that issue, no amount of blogging, twittering, or micropayments is going to solve their failing business models.

Ouch, Picard. Since I've already Twittered about this article literally and asked for micropayments from my comment section still waiting, guys To value creation and beyond! Let's begin where I agree. Gregory Ferenstein said, on May 29, at am. Harry said, on March 10, at pm.

Subscribe Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Join 10, other followers. Search for:. Blog at WordPress. Follow Following. Sign me up. Already have a WordPress. Log in now. So with journalism now commoditized, asked Picard, what's to become of its practitioners?

Because average journalists share interchangeable skills, they are easily replaceable, but specialists like cartoonists and certain columnists remain more marketable. However, because journalists have traditionally considered what they do to be of value in itself, and because they have always sought to separate business and editorial functions, they now find themselves in the difficult position of having to understand value creation at a time when their jobs are under threat.

So what must be done? If journalism is to survive, journalists must find a way to create new means of gathering, processing and distributing information.