David Brooks on Why I'm in Law School

David Brooks sheds some tears, crocodile or otherwise, for blue-collar journalism:

It's hard to imagine now, but in Chicago, even 20 years ago, the working class was portrayed more vividly in the newspapers than the upscale consumer class, and workers weren't depicted as members of the noble but oppressed proletariat — objects fit for genteel compassion. The old neighborhoods were portrayed uncondescendingly, as scrambling menageries, where aspirations of lace-curtain respectability competed with the hoodlum's ethic: where's mine?

[...]

Most of all, there has been the great upscalization. In 1981, [Mike] Royko moved from his bungalow near Milwaukee Avenue to a high-rise along the lakefront, and that was really the death-marker of the old style. America's cultural tone is no longer set by aspiring working-class novelists who grew up above a tavern. It's set by globally savvy college grads, who, even if they visit the Billy Goat from time to time, see the world from a different vantage point.

Why do college-educated elites populate the field of journalism to an extent unknown just a few decades ago? Of course, the glamor of the All The President's Men era, the trendy new journalism of Thompson, Wolfe and Southern and the legitimization that allowed upper-midddle-class parents to proudly admit that their kid is a journalist all contributed to it, but the real answer is money. There are far too many people who want to be journalists than there are regular non-freelance jobs out there. As a result, starting pay is very low. To get one, you either have to take a series of unpaid internships or work at a college newspaper, options not available to college students who need to work their way through school. If you do land a job, you won't be very well rewarded, especially in high-rent markets where you either have to pay $1,000 a month for an apartment or get a car and pay for parking. Let's look at some listings:

- $30-35k for someone with Japanese language skills in DC? Land a consulting job and you can have an apartment without roaches.

- You could freelance for $25-30k for a tech publication in Boston... or you could eat something other than cat food until they take you on full time.

One of the things you notice scouting JournalismJobs.com is how few listings have salaries attached, either because they're embarassingly low, or because they're so low you have to be too desperate to care. I was a journalist for two years, supplementing my income with tutoring on the side, which was only possible because I had a gig that didn't require me to work very long hours, which is often the case and makes second jobs with set schedules nearly impossible for others in the field.

When it became clear that I didn't like my old job, my old boss and my chances of advancement at my old company, I had a choice. I could go to grad school and make a life for myself beyond the paycheck-to-paycheck treadmill, or I could take my clips and get a slightly better job somewhere else for marginally more money, work at it for a few years and climb for a decade or more before I could think of buying even a modest house. Newly-minted college grads with more debt than I had aren't willing to wait, which is why they don't become journalists. As for me, I prefer yelling at journalists rather than getting yelled at by lawyers who aren't my boss.

UPDATE: In retrospect, that last line was fairly dumb. I'm going to get yelled at by judges, by opposing counsel during discovery, and probably from other associates who are not my boss. So much for ending on a cute note.