EXCERPT: Out of the Layoff Ashes: Issues & Insights
By Anneke E. Green, Real Clear Politics
In the wake of layoffs of more than 1,000 journalists from BuzzFeed, Verizon Media Group (owner of outlets like HuffPost) and Gannett earlier this year, #LearntoCode became a controversial phrase tweeted at and about those who lost their jobs. One side argued it was harassment. Twitter took this view, suspending accounts of those using the slogan. Another side contended the phrase was a sardonic expression of just deserts for a class of professionals unsympathetic to the loss of jobs in industries like coal mining, thanks to clean energy ideals.
A month after these layoffs, Investor’s Business Daily quietly shuttered its own opinion section. This was the death stroke for an editorial team that had already suffered the loss of all but two staffers in 2016 when the conservative publication moved from a daily to a weekly print edition. Upon finding himself suddenly without a job, former IBD commentary and opinion deputy editor John Merline decided to learn to code, in a manner of speaking.
On April 22, Issues & Insights went live, staffed by several members of the team that for years wrote editorials for Investor’s Business Daily.
“Unlike other pundits and media celebrities, we do the hard work of reporting and researching stories before we offer our uncompromising viewpoints on them,” the site promises. “Our goal is to use our accumulated wisdom to help our readers better understand the events shaping the country.”
Read the rest at Real Clear Politics.
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