Reporter: "I've the skills but have I a future?"

Stephen Moss takes an in depth look at the local press in the lead feature in G2 of The Guardian today.
He quotes a new reporter who works for Trinity in Birmingham called Paul Bradley on the future:"I suppose you see the brave new world, but brave new world that's going where exactly? I can do all the skills, I can do the videoing, I can take the not-very-good photos, I can file for three different papers. But are those papers going to be around in five years' time for me to continue working for them, or am I going to have to look for a job abroad because they can't work out how to get the advertising?
"You've just got to have some kind of faith that someone, somewhere knows what's going on and has some kind of plan. There's still a thirst for news; there's still a demand for good journalism."
Moss also quotes Barry Fitzpatrick, head of publishing at the NUJ, on the present state of the industry: "At the moment, regional managing directors are like corks bobbing around in a stormy sea. They're not actually steering anything; they have no business plan other than cuts, and inevitably if that's the only strategy you have, quality suffers. They try to make out there's been no damage done, or it's a better product, but we all know it's a lot worse."