What If?

What if the Internet suddenly stopped giving away free news? With so many people saying lately that they "get their news off the Internet," I wonder what would happen if the Internet stopped giving away the milk and instead made people start buying the cow?

I don't mean what would happen to people or society as a whole. I think we might scratch our heads for a moment, then pick up the phone and call back the few remaining people at newspapers' subscription departments and order up the "special." (Trust me. The subscription departments at your local paper are standing by, ready and waiting, with subscription specials anytime you call. Try it and see.)

I'm not suggesting that this will happen tomorrow. It would take some major doing because it would have to start with the wire services and go all the way down. No more freebies on information and intellectual property.

Those wire services, like Associated Press, Reuters, and United Press International, would all have to change their working agreements with groups to outlaw the posting of their reporting on the Internet. Since every major news organization in the world uses these wire services as the backbone of their product, this would shut down the Internet as a source of information, except in return for money. Which since the services pay their employees, is really how it should be, isn't it?

And all of the "stories" online? Most of those "news stories" that people would still see for free would suddenly be viewed as what they are: bloggers, babblers, pundits, and intellectual property thieves.

All of the real news therefore, would then be either distributed by television, radio, or in those quaint things called newspapers. Sure, the newspapers would go back to being the slowest of the medias, but they'd still retain their journalistic integrity by virtue of providing the most in-depth news coverage. And yeah, they'd have subscribers again. They might even hire back a few reporters.

Televisions and radio stations would gain viewers back, because well, yes, you'd have to get your news from one of the several legitimate sources, so they'd be back in demand.

It's an old school style approach. And it would require some allowances by the government. We'd have to invite the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to the meetings where such an agreement was negotiated because that might prevent us all from being dragged into court for an anti-trust case.

But there would be no "price fixing." Journalists have rarely agreed on anything (a more snarling, snapping dog-filled pack you've never seen) so how could they or even their bean-counters fix a price? But just to keep it all honest, as we work to restore the business model, it might be acceptable to have government approval.

And websites? Sure, we'd keep those. Why not post the freebie information, advertisements, a few teases to the real stories (available in the morning paper or evening newscasts) reporters and talent bios and emails. But generally, after a few details on the web, we let everyone go back to reporting things other than the latest demise of a venerated newspaper?

I put this question to someone in management at one of my current media clients. He said he thinks it's too late. He said he thought that newspapers and other media outlets had rushed onto the Internet years ago, without giving serious thought to what it would mean long-term and now the momentum was against them. The industry is "hemorrhaging without end."

But I wonder at that analogy and suggested he look at it in a different way:

"If you slit your wrists, you are allowed to go to the hospital."

Maybe it's time to do that. Maybe it's time to check in before we all check out.

(Sea) Biscuit on a Sunday

I was feeling a little achey on Sunday so I stayed in. I was unsure whether those little quirky pains and pulls were from too much workout on Saturday, or perhaps I was coming down with the latest plague (H1N1 "swine flu") so I thought I should keep it to myself.

I raided the household DVD rack during one of my rare vertical moments and found a copy of "Seabiscuit." You remember the movie? Released in 2003, it bears watching again. It is about giving the nation hope after in the midst of The Great Depression.

Sometimes, it seems like we're never going to get out of this trouble. For me personally, writing at Voice of America and seeing news stories about economies around the world that are poised perhaps to come out much better than we are, it can seem very dark.

The movie depicts a smaller-than-average racehorse owned by a somewhat inexperienced owner who hired an older than average trainer and a larger than average, half-blind jockey. Yet somehow the combination worked.

The sight of that horse, running its heart out in races against much more physically compelling rivals, is somehow... heartening. I think for me to say more would really waste the impact.

The next time you feel a day of shut-in coming on, maybe you'll take the time to watch it. Or perhaps watch it again.

Meet Mrs. Wang

Today, I'd like you to meet Mrs. Wang. Mrs. Wang lives in China. And she's one of 1,330,044,544 Chinese citizens, as of June 2008, according to U.S. government figures. She's probably one of ten or twenty million women named "Mrs. Wang" in China, for that matter.

If that doesn't sound like she's significant, well, she means something to someone. Presumably Mr. Wang.

But why should she mean something to you?

Because she just got a new dog... for which she paid $600,000.

Remember when the U.S. economy was strong? Remember just a few short years ago when we spent money like it was going out of style and thought that the good times would never end? Has it occurred to you that it may be someone else's turn now? And look! They are already starting to act like us!

Now, I hate to be a pessimist, but does it seem to anyone else like we've been on top for an awfully long time, and that maybe, just maybe, it's someone else's turn to drive the dogsled? Maybe we're now the dogs pulling the sled?

Don't get me wrong. We've had a good run. But we've wasted resources, shot our credit limits to the point that when Timothy Geithner was speaking to students and academics in Beijing, earlier this year and insisted that trillions of dollars in Chinese investments will be unharmed and that "Chinese assets are safe," and in response, they laughed at him.

So here we are, fit for dogmeat. I am trying to stay optimistic about this whole thing. But I think the new economic big dog doesn't eat kibble. He favors rice. And this...

is a $600,000 Tibetan mastiff that may soon be dining better than some Americans.

More Recession....

I am so proud of how Americans are learning to watch their pennies. Not all of us. Not the ones still employed with top-dollar paychecks. But lots of people who didn't use to look at their credit card bills are now examining them closely. And people who seemed to think they were too good to ask why they were charged for three cans of soup when they only bought two, are starting to reconnect. They're actually paying attention to grocery prices and watching every move made by the friendly grocery clerk.

Yes, I still have some friends who can't be bothered to return expired dairy products or go over their checking accounts online, but they are further apart and fewer between these days.

The Washington Post this weekend delivers up this article on how to negotiate a severance package. That's what's called being "timely" on the weekend after the government reports the sky-high unemployment rate at 9.7% nationally.

It's time to think thin. Thin income. Thin wallets. Thinning savings accounts, if you are fortunate to have gone into the recession with a nest egg.

I'm sort of proud of the way some people are handling it all. After years of being lazy, snobbish, prissy and proud, they are starting to get it. They've told their kids "no" when they ask for the latest version of "Playstation," and stayed home for dinner more than one night per month. Who knows what's next? Possibly there's a market for classes on reintroducing conversation at American dinnertables.

Anyway, the same weekend editions also point out that nest eggs are taking a hit. Considering that the average American household began the recession with $11,000 in credit card debt (since I don't have any, I'm guessing there's a household in a lot of pain somewhere), these would be the better stories.

They say that signs of the recovery are being seen. But so far, it's a "jobless recovery," where employers aren't starting to hire back furloughed employees. Instead, they are asking the workers they have to do more. Sometimes for the same price; and sometimes, for less.

We're all going to learn to be very grateful for the good parts of our lives during this downturn. We're going to learn to be happy with what we have. That as I said in an earlier post, "three forks are enough." And that more than one, on many things, is just something to stash in the closet or dust down the line.

We will learn. And maybe sometime soon, we'll learn to smile again. Until then, it pays to learn to watch your wallet and negotiate. And to enjoy it.

How Much Is Enough?

I have enough. Not too much, but enough.

I know some of you will find this surprising, having watched me spend my way through 1990's and perhaps earlier. But I have enough.

Most of you know that I moved back to the East Coast after seven years in Los Angeles. Happy years, some of them. Not wildly lucrative years, but they were good years. I love sunshine and palm trees.

I left most of my household belongings in a storage bin in Los Angeles until I can gather the courage needed to load it all up and move lock, stock, and barrel to my new locale. I drove east with my small economy car loaded down, but still offering a fine view of the road behind me. And I rarely turned back to check it.

That's how I am at this point in my life, footloose and fancy-free. More so than most 20 year olds you know because the one thing I've never cut loose under any circumstances is my ration of steely nerve. I love a good adventure and starting a fresh life seems the way to gain one.

So I arrived here and set about jump-starting a life with a carload full of clothes, two computers, and five different types of dental floss in varying amounts.

I needed some plates. I bought them at Goodwill. I needed some sheets. I bought them at a discount store. The plates were a hit; the sheets were a miss. Ugly, black, shiny and completely unappealing. I didn't think I'd ever find restful nirvana in them, so I repacked them and took them back to the store.

On the advice of a friend, I went back to Goodwill, this time looking for sheets. And I found them: beautiful, pre-washed (but ahhh, yes, I washed them again...just in case!) quality sheets. They were all top-sheets, because apparently Americans wear out their fitted sheets long before the flat sheets show wear.

This is Rahman. I met Rahman at Goodwill. No, not Rahman, like the noodles. "Rahhh-mahn." He's smiled while taking my money through several transactions now. Heck, he's smiled through transactions with grumpy overweight grannies dragging grandchildren in tow while they buy badly repainted bookcases that have to be loaded on the back dock. Rahman is from Bangladesh and he's very happy to be in the United States. He's profoundly grateful for the kindness of a customer's smile. He's a bonus, that's for sure, but that type of thinking makes you very aware of what other customers are inflicting on him. He's one of my little bits of "people candy" in this experience.

Anyway, I spent the first six weeks trotting back and forth between two Goodwill stores in Virginia, stopping in almost every time I drove over to workout at a friend's fitness center.

I bought antique silverware that is all mismatched. I bought a few pictures in frames that I hung around the tiny little place I rented. I picked up some Christmas-y decorated bowls, but put them back again. I already had bowls: one red, one green. Isn't that Christmas-y enough?

I also carefully considered which used Crockpot to take home. I tested a couple of small fans and lamps and... then I stopped.

It came to me one day after the workout that I have enough.

To keep going back to Goodwill when I don't need anything more would mean I haven't learned anything in this recession. It would mean all the good lessons of life's downturns were wasted on me. It would also mean I was a little ungrateful at what God had given me.

I mean, I have three forks (every one of them is a different length), four spoons, and six table knives (what was I thinking?) so really, I have enough, right?

I think it may just make me smile all the way through whatever winter brings this year.

So thank you, but I have enough. However, if you're invited for dinner, be a dear bring your own silverware. I might not have enough.

Dreaming of Recovery?

They said this recession would see "the poor get poorer and the rich get richer." If you're watching at all, the truth of that statement is becoming more and more apparent.

In the past month, we've seen some banks (Goldman Sachs, for starters) giving back the bailout money they were given earlier by the government. In the case of several banks, they would not have accepted the money but were forced to in order to protect the reputations of all the banks so that the American people couldn't immediately ascertain which banks were troubled, and start a run on any or all of those banks. Congrats, boys, it worked.

But in reality, some of these banks were more than just a little healthy. They were robust. Which is why the current round of "little notices" tucked in your credit card bills don't make any sense.

Credit cards make money when they are used. The issuing companies each extract a certain cut of the business being done every time a transaction takes place. The card company gets a percentage point. Or three. That's why some businesses don't accept American Express; because the percentage that AmEx wants is higher than the rest.

The companies also make money when a consumer carries a balance. Considering that going into this recession, the average American was carrying $8000 in credit card debt every month, those banks weren't hurting. They were making money coming... and going.

But this month, yes, I did get a little notice in my monthly statement telling me that the interest rates are increasing, as are late fees. Fascinating. The banks are hurrying to institute their new fees because government rules regulating predatory practices among credit card companies go into effect soon. They printed those little notices and got them into the mail as fast as they could get the ink to dry.

And yes, government reports say that our economy is starting to come out of the recession. But sadly enough for the family down the street, unemployment is still sky-high. In some places, unemployment has hit double-digits and shows no sign of coming back down. Government economists admit that "unemployment will lag behind other indicators." That's a bloodless description of deep suffering, don't you agree?

Meantime, housing sales are starting to climb back up again. The American worker is still living in a recessionary mindset (and may be for some years to come, if any good is to come of the past 18 months worth of agony) but home sales and more importantly, prices are starting to come back up.

The bottomline is that for many Americans, the dream of owning their own home is now further away than ever before. If you spread out the unemployment, lost wages, foreclosures, bankruptcies and other lost wealth of this downturn, it equals a lot of stolen dreams and for many, those dreams will never come again.

U.S. Postal Service... not serviceable?

So the Postal Service says their business is failing and they need some cuts. I sorta get that. Don't we all?

Last quarter, they lost $2.4 Billion, with future projections that by the end of the year, they will lose a total $7 Billion. As we all know, Internet and email have pretty much killed them. Sure, they raise the price of a stamp six to twelve months, and we all know what's going on there. Postal carriers think they need more money and benefits. Otherwise, they'll... uh, go postal. (Whew! Now that we've gotten that one out of the way, we can move on.)

But this time, they don't want more money. They want less responsibility. Their big cheese, the U.S. Postmaster told Congress this past week that he needs to cut services back.

He really needs to cut new deals and be allowed to whack away at union deals that were made before he was in office. He needs freedom to chip away at service agreements and benefits and entitlements that are "guaranteed" to government workers that frankly, well, we really can't afford right now. Nor possibly could we ever have really "afforded" them.

Apparently, our postal carriers weren't paying attention to what happens to big unions when their employers can't afford them anymore. They didn't notice what happened to workers at various auto plants and factories. They took no notice of mechanics and flight attendants who slowly squeezed (is that a word?) the life out of their big bosses. Why aren't they worried? Because their contracts forbid layoffs, cutbacks, or any other attempts to cut their piece of the pie. In fact, the U.S. Postal Service is archaically required to set aside benefits money for "future employees." Do you know any other business that is required to set aside money for employees they don't have?

So Postmaster John Potter wants to cut a day or two, here and there.

I have another idea. Since a good number of us already have post office boxes, perhaps we might consider whether a lot more of us should get P.O. boxes? We could eliminate deliveries, except where age or illness makes getting our own mail impossible. We'd make Americans responsible for their own make pickups.

And think about it. Think of all the glorious "stimulus money" we could spend, building the additional mail drop facilities.

Just makes you want to go out and buy some stamps, doesn't it?

How Low Can Deflation Go?

Can I point out something I've noticed during the current economic recession? Of course I can. It's about prices on various and sundry items from furniture to cars to housing. They're going down.

By more than half.

"50% or More Cut!" "Prices Reduced Drastically!" "Huge Markdown!"

What I find interesting and somewhat ironic is that these price cuts are being made on the same merchandise that has been offered for years. Or even worse, on brand-new, high-tech electronics and other.

The reason this seems to interesting to me is because what it makes clear is the huge mark-up that we've been paying for years. It reminds me of a conversation I had with a family member a few years back. This relative had married a few years before and their (somewhat new) spouse was had a successful professional practice. The practice was very successful, but the office manager apparently neglected to pay the business income taxes as the year went along.

So here came my relative's plaintiff cry:

"Marti, we have to catch up and that means paying hundreds of
thousands of dollars in taxes."

At this point, I actually laughed at this relative and said:

"Yeah, okay. Shuuuuuuut up. I know what that means."

I said it sorta laughing at the time, because it's easy to spot what she was doing: camouflaging a boast about her spouse's income by cloaking it in a whining complaint.

Years ago, my boss in Washington liked to call that "rich people's whine: when people on the Norwegian Cruise Line complain about Baltic instead of Beluga caviar."

So now we have merchants crying because they aren't making money as they did in the past, but since we know they are not selling their wares at a loss (unless it's a going out of business sale), what we are now seeing is how inflated their costs have been in the past. What we're seeing is how greedily they have milked the American consumer for the last decade or two.

It's great to see prices coming down, and I want to feel sorry and empathetic for everyone in this difficult time, but some folks are easier than others, don't you agree?

Recession Luxury: Friendship

I reached into my knapsack and pulled out a brand-new cosmetic item, still in the box. I pulled out the old one, and noticed there was still some product in there. I thought, "No, no. You are going to use up every drop of that cosmetic. Use it until it is completely gone before you get out the new one and start on it."

That's right. I'm cheap. In the past, I've bought dresses for special occasions that never came up. I bought a red silk dress that I bought on sale 15 years ago in Knoxville, TN for a "special occasion" that never happened. The dress still had its tags on it when I donated it to a mission store a year ago. The style is outdated and I no longer cared for the color. Such wastefulness, but that's who I was right at that time.

But aren't most of us becoming a lot more cognizant of using things completely up? We want to get full value for the amount that we paid. The environmentalists among us must be thrilled that Americans, long known as the most wasteful consumers in the world, are now suddenly interested in using and reusing items until they are finally and at last worn out.

A friend was talking over the weekend about how she and her husband have gotten a new stove.

"My sister-in-law wanted a different color, so they were getting rid of it. It's in perfect condition except that the oven display up on top doesn't work, so you have to keep track of where you set the temperature to start and then it's 5 clicks more to 350 degrees. But it works just fine."

And she's thrilled to have it. She now has her heart set on a new sink, but she wants it to fit in the unusually-sized spot left open for it without making further adjustments, so she's not sure how soon they'll find the perfect sink. Another friend who was also listening to this suggested, "Oh, you should check the Re-Store Shop over on Main Street."

I have other friends who spend more on their homes. They aren't in the middle of raising two small children on one small-ish paycheck and struggling to make ends meet. But I don't have any friends that I like more or who make me feel more at ease.

They remind me of another conversation I had with a friend who brings in over $100K per year herself, while her husband's salary (I guesstimate on both salaries) runs well over $200k. The friend needed a new dress for a special evening out, and she said,

"I just hate to shop. And I hate the idea of spending a lot on a new dress that I'll only wear once or twice."

I said I completely understood and was a bit tight on spending on myself as a rule. I said "In fact, I'm kinda cheap."

She said "I know. It's one of the things I find endearing about you."

I think I got a little head-rush at that moment. I still am quite taken with thinking about it. I guess I always felt uncomfortable that I was careful about my spending. But suddenly, here was one of my more cherished friends saying she knew who I was and liked me not in spite of it, but actually a teensy bit more because of it.

It's unlikely my two sets of friends will ever meet. They are from very different worlds and I'm quite certain they wouldn't immediately see how much they have in common. But I guess family budgets everywhere are "same circus, different tent."

Anyway, I think we all need such friends right now. We have probably had them all along, but maybe this recession allows us the luxury of admitting to ourselves and our friends that we see who they are and accept them in full glory for it. And relish the same from them.

Money Management 101, by U.S. Senate

Money. We're all worried about it. The economy, our livelihood, debt and investments are what we're thinking about right now in this country.

Fortunately, our representatives in Washington know how to handle money. Or at least they know how to make money. The financial disclosure forms for both the House and Senate were released today and they show, in spite of the global recession and sharp drops in the value of both real estate and investments, top leaders in the United States Senate managed to make money. And now we can see how much.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) who, not surprisingly, owns property in his home state, made some gains. In spite of some of the sharpest drop-offs in the real estate and mortgage industry being in centered in Southern Nevada, the senator's most valuable holding gained value.

The Senator owns a 55-acre lot formerly used for hard-rock mining just outside of Las Vegas, near Searchlight, which is his hometown. The property has now doubled in value.

A few years back, the property was valued at "just $250,000." Reid's aides say county officials reassessed its value at the close of 2008, and assessed its taxable value at between $500,000 and $1 million.

Meantime, the Republican leader is also doing well.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his wife, former labor secretary Elaine Chao, apparently have, or had anyway, a rich relative. A very rich relative. Don't envy them yet. Their relative died and left the McConnell-Chao's a family gift that was placed in a tax-exempt money market fund, worth between $5 million and $25 million. (Okay, now you can start the envy.)

That sounds weird, doesn't it? But the forms do not require lawmakers to reveal precise values of their assets, only broad ranges of their holdings. If it was me, I suppose I could submit a record that says "between $1 and $1 million." Of course, when you have fewer dollars to account for, it becomes easier to keep track.

By the way, Sen. McConnell and his wife also lost money in the downturn. Two years ago, their largest asset was a different fund estimated at "between $1 million and $5 million," but now it's worth "between $500,000 and $1 million." That's still more of a spread than I can understand.

Meantime, about 70 members of Congress have not turned in their financial records. They requested extensions on the May 15th deadline, and delayed the release of their financial records. No excuses asked for or offered.

Don't worry guys (and ladies). There's plenty of time for you to get those records turned in. We'll still be here. And we'll be interested.

They Who Laugh Last...

Need a new iPod? Thinking about a Palm Pre? What about a new netbook? Think about it: when was the last time you bought yourself a little treat, electronic or otherwise?

What if... we all stopped buying ourselves those lovely little fun things that we so richly deserve? What would happen to the world's economy, so dependent on consumers and American consumers in particular, if we quit buying every. little. thing. we. want. We like stuff in this country and now that we're all out of cash to buy it, our credit is spread too thin.

A Washington Post article relates an incident in Beijing when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner spoke, reassuring the Chinese that their investments in American dollars were safe. Their response? They chuckled. They actually broke their polite smiles and laughed in Geithner's face. But if we were the world's leading consumers and our economy is now broken, it's not a laughing matter.

When I was a kid, my dad used to call me the World's Greatest Consumer. He usually said that when I spent 45 minutes running a hot bath and only 15 minutes soaking in it. He didn't like how long I stood in front of an open refrigerator, the way I dragged my heels, wore out shoes and wanted new ones for every high school dance.

As an adult, I've always enjoyed paying my own bills and in review, I probably could have been more conservative in my spending at times. But some of my friends don't think so.

One of my favorite friends was talking about how she needed a new dress for the White House Corrospondents' Dinner. She said she didn't want to shop and she didn't want to spend the money on a "wear it once" outfit. I said "Yeah, I get that. I'm hate spending money on clothes like that. I'm sorta cheap, I guess."

Her response? "I know. It's one of the things I find most endearing about you."

You'd have to know how excited I was to hear that statement. One of my dearest friends was saying that she knew my secret, "got me" and still liked me. I felt weirdly accepted for myself. Go ahead and enjoy it with me.

Back to our spending habits as a culture. We all know we spend way too much. The average American household is carrying about $10K in credit card debt and we have come by it quite righteously. We have spent and spent and spent. There are American kids who heard the word "no" from their parents for the first time this past year. It's a good word to add to their vocabulary.

Our economy sucks. We're in trouble. And it's not just our struggle. The world's three largest exporters, Germany, China, and Japan are seeing their output down 33% already this year. Since we're the world's leading consumers, guess who they blame?

It's interesting that after years of economic envy, when we start to fall, our economic partners think it's funny. They won't be laughing long.

In the past, it was our own version of "if you build it, they will come." The motto seemed to be if you sell it, Americans will buy it. And if it's "tech," we'll line up to buy it at full price the moment it becomes available.

So imagine this brave new world that Chinese, German and Japanese exporters have inherited. If you can't sell it to those silly rich American over-consumers, you're going to have to find someone else to buy it.

Let's finish the proverb: He who laughs last, laughs longest... if there's anything left to laugh about.

TV News: Sharing Resources

One of the hottest topics in television news right now is the pooled sharing of video resources by stations in (mostly) major television markets. It's already going on in Chicago, Los Angeles, and several other cities. It's controversial with a lot of unhappy people on all sides.

So here's my vote. I'm for it. Before you throw a rock at the back of my head, let me explain.

It's a scary time right now for all of us, in and out of the journalism and television industries. I feel like whatever those stations have to do to actually stay in business while the business model is rejiggered so that it will actually work again is probably a reasonable thing.

It's tough personally because we've all been able to rely on our careers and the station taking care of us and our union protecting those jobs for us for a very long time. We're going to have to take care of ourselves now. It's time to grow up (admittedly, this is an industry where juvenile personalities and behavior were often what was needed to succeed) and be responsible for ourselves. For some of us, that change will be too great and it may be time to get out of the business.

But sharing video doesn't mean the demise of the business. It doesn't even mean the demise of quality journalism. It might mean the survival of some groups that are struggling with both the recession and the decline in viewership that is causing the television news industry to contract.

As I understand it, a lot of the video-sharing arrangements are for news conferences, which are scheduled events where everyone simultaneously gets the same information, interviews and elements. The quality of reports done on such stories isn't dependent on photographers (although if one of the stations decides that's where to stick the least qualified guy working that day, then it could really sink things fast) but on the reporting and the reporter.

Just imagine... it might actually free up crews to be out of those hideously boring news conferences to cover other issues. Who knows? They could conceivably be able to cover them with some depth.

Before you start to argue with me, consider that some of those considered to be the top journalists in the country are working with "pool video." Many of the events at the White House are covered by the "pool crew."

Among national news organizations, there is a fair amount of sharing already going on. On occasion, someone will get back to the office, have techical issues or have missed something and make a call to a friendly competitor who will occasionally share their pictures. Why? Because they know that they may be the beggar next time.

A reporter succeeds based on his or her own work. He or she succeeds on the strength of their sources, relationships, abilities and efforts in asking the right questions, focusing attention, offering insight and writing.

Photographers don't like it because, well, that's a no-brainer, isn't it? They don't like it because as the use of pooled video expands, the job pool for photographers shrinks. I had lunch with a beloved photographer friend this morning and we talked about his future.

He's a staff cameraman at a Los Angeles station, and is considering leaving his position sometime in the future. He and his significant other visited another city recently to "scout the lay of the land."

"I'm never going to get another staff job," he told me over my fish taco. "Those days are over and gone." I basically agreed with him and mentioned that network freelance photographers were among the happiest people I knew.

A freelance photographer makes his own hours, takes his own calls, accepts (or declines) assignments and has an incredible amount of personal and creative freedom. He works hard, but the bottomline is he works when he wants to.

It's an uneasy time. Anyone in freelance journalism, writing or photography has always needed nerves of steel. They've also needed skills to budget time, money, and resources to make occasional suppluses last through leaner times. It's not for the lazy, but it's do-able.

Someone said to me awhile back that my industry's "golden days" are over. That may be true for television, but it's not true for journalism and it's not true for photographers. We're still going to read and look at video, whatever the source. It is likely true that the laziest days are over. But those who truly succeeded were never lazy anyway.

All the Large Economy Size Garbage Bags, Laundry Detergent and Chocolate Chips You Could Ever...

Costco has ruined my thriftiness. Seriously. Please check my logic on this item.

When I moved to LA, I got a membership at Costco. It's a state and a state of mind where the two go hand in hand. You drive to the DMV for a license and then over to Costco in the same trip. I lived less than a mile from the Van Nuys location and since they sold the cheapest gas in a 4 mile radius, it just made sense.

Then I started doing a little catering. I spent enough time and money at Costco to warrant getting the executive membership. The black card. $100. It gets you in the door an hour earlier than the rest of the riff-raff and... you get money back. Which, if you're doing some catering, adds up fast.

The catering ended over four years ago. But the card stayed. And I still bought large sized packages of items. I also bought a freezer to keep those items in. Sometimes I bought electronics. I had never been a big buyer of DVD's, but seeing as how they were less than $20 each, it seemed like a good deal.

In short, I think I spend more because of Costco than I might have been likely to, if I didn't have the card. I think lots of people overbuy on printers, lightbulbs, batteries and televisions. We started to think of some of those items as disposable instead of repairable. Things last just until the end of the warranty and then what do we do? We turn around and buy a new one... without ever pausing to consider repairing what we have because, of course, we want the latest updated technology. What are we... 15 years old?

Sure, I get a good price on gas. And insurance. Also asparagus. But I can't remember the last time I used all the batteries in the Costco pack before the darned things died. And I'm not sure if I really needed all those pairs of socks or flannel jammie pants. I live in Southern California, for crying out loud. I certainly couldn't sleep in them. Ugh. Like velcro in the sheets.

Yes, I mean it. Costco ruined my frugality. There you have it. I lost my soul at Costco... although I did find an employee ID name tag in the parking lot at that lovely Van Nuys location. The name on the tag? Jesus.

New Credit for Old Debt Problems

New outfit purchased at discount store: under $100.

Chinese take out and a movie at home: $25 for two.

Figuring out that credit cards aren't free money? Priceless. And we're about to learn that lesson the hard way in this country.

Congress has passed credit card reforms set to take effect about 9 months. (House vote: 361-64. Senate vote: 90-5.) The net effect may be to give birth to a whole new generation of American consumers. Getting there certainly may be as painful as giving birth for some among us.

The average American household with at least one credit card was carrying over $10,000 in debt according to cardweb.com. Considering that number was figured before the current recession with high unemployment rates, the debt load could reasonably be expected to have increased. And then the banks decided they'd like more people to pay off their debts so they increased interest rates and lowered credit ceilings to bring in some cash. Result: consumers are in an ugly spot.

These new reforms will limit the ability of banks and credit card companies to hike interest rates and of course, make money. It will also protect over-borrowing consumers. Banks will set tighter limits on how much can be borrowed and how long they give borrowers to repay the money. And my personal favorite, the new laws require college students to either prove they can repay the money or get parents to agree to be responsible for repaying the money.

"This cements a victory for every American consumer who has ever suffered at the hands of the credit card industry," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Banking Committee.

Is it too much to hope that they will stop constantly sending me offers of pre-approved credit cards? I'm quite sure the annual savings would feed several families in a Third World Nation for a year. And since I haven't opened a new credit card in more than five years, I am willing to suggest they should save their money and a few trees.

The credit card companies aren't terribly happy. No one likes being told how to run their business, particularly when the "telling" involves federal regulations tightening like purse strings.

In retaliation, they are going to make things less happy for everyone. *Poof! No fee cards are gone! *Flash! There went the frequent-flyer points. *Blast! They want me to repay it faster?

When I think of all the fun I had, using my credit cards to buy everything from groceries to expensive cameras and luxury travel (Cambodia? Luxury?), I've got to say I'm a little disappointed. (Last summer, I tried to buy a car with my Discover card, but I was purchasing it from a private seller. It turned out to be a little unfair to that seller, so we went back to cash.) But the banks say they've got to make money, too.

Here's the thing: they have ALWAYS made money selling credit to debt-laden Americans. ALWAYS. Why? Because they already charge merchants a percentage-based fee for every transaction. It's built into prices and constitutes the single reason that I got a price-break on my trip to the dentist for major work last Monday: because I paid cash.

I pay off my credit cards every month. It was a fun little game, racking up points to get cash back from Discover and Nordstrom and Costco. But if they aren't going to give me points, I can go back to paying cash.

So if the credit cards stop offering free points and other "gimmes" which gets me (and presumably a lot of other consumers) to stop using the cards so much, which makes them lose more money because of a precipitous drop transaction fees, leading to even tighter benefits, which leads to less use... where does all this lead? To what may be our new bottom line:

Less really is just less, isn't it?

Disclaimer: I pay my credit cards off every month in full and am utterly unsympathetic to anyone who doesn't do the same, except in emergency situations.

A Penny for Your Thoughts...

"A penny saved is a penny earned."

"Every time it rains, it rains pennies from Heaven."

And even more outdated,

"Here's a quarter for you and your brother to buy some penny candy."

Penny candy is a term that died about 30 years ago. At that time, penny candy could make the day of a child. It was individually packaged and came in near endless variety of which any kid could list their favorite. But as will happen, the cost of sugar rose. The price of these smallest bits of candy sold separately went to several cents or a nickel. The term simply went out of use. This recession won't bring it back, but it is causing Americans to think about how they spend money. Those pennies that have been so casually left on the counter are now being put in the pocket, collected, and valued.

And now in honor of the 100th anniversary of the smallest and most long-running American coin's current featured face (100 years of Lincoln, but the penny itself actually dates further back.) the U.S. Mint is issuing 1-cent coins with four different designs on the back, each coming out through the year 2009.

By the way, the coin isn't legally named "penny." It's actually a 1-cent coin. And collectors are rabid about having as many of these commemorative pennies as possible, tidily rolled up in their U.S. Mint wrappers. The U.S. Mint decided not to be driven to distraction by numismatists, as coin collectors are known (or numistmatics... haha!) and allowed each to purchase only six rolls each.

I've been watching and hoping this recession restores a little common sense to how some in our country think about and value money. I'd also like to see it restore some value to reality instead of our culture focusing solely on what can be purchased on a Friday night in a darkened theater for $13.

Lately, I look at the advertisements on television and note that some home improvement (and other types of stores), which must be suffering greatly due to the downturn in home building, sales, and renovations, are now offering "everything at greatly reduced prices." I am sure they think that's a wonderful thing to advertise to consumers, but to me it logically says that in the past their prices were greatly inflated. I mean, they've still got to be making a profit somewhere, right? I wonder that no one has pointed that out to the great marketing minds at Lowe's Stores.

Remember last year during the gas crunch when food processors and grocery manufacturers were trying to avoid being accused of inflating their prices so instead they just cut the size of the packaging and hoped consumers didn't notice? This year, they'd do anything just to hang on to the sales they have at the prices they try to command. The word "deflation" is coming into view.

Wouldn't it be nice if with some of our deflated dollars and our now re-valued 1-cent coins, we could somehow buy back a little of our lost American way of thinking? If we could restore the simpler times of our parents and return to valuing time spent together? A few dollars could buy a backyard barbecue with friends in a way that the same amount doesn't really cover more than one or two beers in a darkened smokey bar filled with too much noise.

Our parents knew how to make their own fun. Their good times were at home: theirs or those of friends with their loved ones around them. And those times were purchased with pennies to spare.

Loose Lips Sink... the Hindenberg?

I'm not a big fan of voodoo. I don't believe in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, or Batman. I have seen "The Secret" and think it's a great way to feel better about life, although I wouldn't want to use it in place of cancer treatments. (I don't really think that cartoon is funny, either, but.. oh well.)

But when I saw a headline in the Washington Post saying "Obama Calls Slump a Disaster" immediately under another story about how the two year long recession is deepening, causing the quickest economic contraction in 25 years, I thought "Thanks Big Guy."

There seems to be a lot of argument about the depth and severity of the recession. I read an article this morning that credibly made the case that this recession is NOT as severe as the one in 1980. The recession of 1980 featured unemployment in the low teens and inflation about the same. That's a tough time.

And as I listened to the afternoon White House briefing, I heard a reporter ask what I wanted to know, "Does the President think calling this slump a disaster and all his talking about how bad it is will be helpful?" (Thanks very much, Major Garrett of FoxNews.)

Since the recession is being worsened by panicked consumers who are cutting their spending and expenses, it doesn't help to jump up and down on the heap. The media is accused of this all the time, but the reality is, we generally just report the numbers.

It is sort of amusing how different some people's tone is these days. Promises before the election; grave-faced serious talk after the election. It would have been nice if voters had spotted that during the campaigns, but the wakeup call needs to end.

This reminds me of what an old gentlemen I knew of said about marriage: "Date with your eyes wide open. Be married with your eyes half-shut."

Perhaps we need a dose ourselves with some of that "half-shut" as we try to work ourselves through this recession.

Who's Running the Store?

I propose a new rule this year.

For all CEO's, CFO's, COO's and anybody who gets a big bonus tied to how much profit they make... here's my new deal.

If the company they run loses money, they get no bonus. None. Nothing whatsoever. Not even a free cup of coffee in the breakroom.

I'd like to suggest they give back money, too, but nobody ever seems able to enforce that. So I'll keep it simple. If the company under your direction doesn't make money, you don't get money above your salary.

Since most of the folks running these companies seem to have exorbitant salaries, I am guessing they can live within their means.

And no stock options either. What do you need with stock in a company that you're running into the ground anyway?

Nope, that's end. End of gravy train. Remember when Lee Iacocca ran Chrysler? He boiled it down nicely when he said, "In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits."

Of course he also said, "The trick is to make sure you don't die waiting for prosperity to come."

That may be the more salient point at the moment.

Will It Be Different Once HE Walks thru the Door?

They are putting up the risers, getting the souveneir stands ready, and starting to haul in the porta-johns in Washington. The Nation's Capital is preparing for that magical mystery event called an Inauguration. The New Guy is a-comin' and the love is a-flowin.'

In short, it's getting a little deep in some places.

Me? I'm theorizing on what will happen on January 21... The Day after The Inauguration of The Anointed One. Man, I'm hoping it's everything they hype. Oh, um, HOPE. I meant hope.

Yeah, I heard that nomination acceptance speech in which he promised to help everybody from college students to immigrants to teachers to the indigent and homeless. "If you have health insurance, I'll get it for you cheaper. And if you don't have insurance, I'll get you Congress' insurance." (Paraphrasing... but still very close.) You don't hear big promises like that anymore, but like the rest of America, I'm still hoping for something here. I am guessing his Inaugural Speech is going to be a lot more subdued.

I remember when George H. W. Bush was leaving office after one term, the economy was in a downturn and the media had scrawled the word "recession" from one end of the country to another.

We like to do that from time to time. It gives us something to talk about. I'm just sayin'...

So then Mr. William Jefferson Clinton steps into office and almost within a few days, the economy started to turn around. It was stunning. I think back to all the conversations I've had with Washington DC cabbies who told me "I wish we could keep Clinton in office; he turned the economy around!" If only that were true.

Because of course these days, we've all learned that the economy is cyclical in nature and that what one President sets up, another reaps. Particularly painfully true in the MORTGAGE CRISIS, MR. CLINTON. Sigh.

But let's continue. It does seem like we in the media enjoy a friendly relationship with Mr. Obama. He was clearly the one for The People, too. While I don't think that the recession is being over-reported or made worse by our writing and reporting, I'll be wondrously amused if I see the economy take sudden bounds back into healthy territory immediately after the upcoming inauguration. Don't get me wrong; I'll be thrilled, too, if it is legitimate. I'll be so very, very thrilled.

But since I saw a dearth of good news for Bush (41) while seeking his second term... and I see the same playing out for Bush (43) as he leaves office, I do pause every so often in wonderment. (Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying he's brilliant. But seriously... when was he so influential and gifted that he did all this himself? Let's remember congressional oversight of the banking and mortgage industry is NOT under the Executive Branch.) And consider the possibilities: what will happen on January 21?

It's a splendid thought, isn't it? If all the hope for change that He promised really came about? If all the things He promised to buy for us were magically in place that day, like so many presents waiting to be unwrapped. And we could forget about that other nagging, ugly thought... forget about our recession?

So the question I really want answered and we'll know very soon, can a media anointing mean things will finally turn around... is it really just because we say so? Or does the reporting simply start to reflect the hope that we feel?

The truth is that objectivity really is in the eye of the beholder. As much as we like to argue otherwise, the idea that any of us are objective is sadly naive. We're not. (And deep inside, we know it. Otherwise, what would we talk about at all those big dinners and such?)

As for the other question… the one of chicken or eggs... does the economy go south everytime a Bush sets foot in the Oval? Does a Bush walking into the West Wing ruin the geometry for all?

If I were Jeb, I certainly wouldn't let my Dad play in my hat closet. He might inadvertently throw one of those tokes in the ring. Personally, I think we need to get past this current generation without needing to see if a Bush can do it a third time.

What Worries You Most?

You are worried, right? Is it that you'll lose your job? That you'll lose your retirement? That you'll need dental work this coming year and not be able to afford it? Or that you're going to have to scrimp to give the kids what they want for Christmas?

There are lots of worries facing all of us right now and yes, the nightly news does make it worse. When day after day, the problem continues to unfold, it becomes difficult to get grasp at what seems to be a cliff that is crumbling and feel yourself slipping away.

We were on a slippery slope of spending and an utterly ridiculous sheet of very thin ice as far as home loans in this country for a very long time. And everyone knew it. That was the worst truth: we all knew it. But nobody could... or would do anything about it.

So now we're being honest about it. We've stopped making loans and started yanking homes back from people who sadly couldn't actually afford them in the first place. I'm sorry for them because they lost their stake and their credit rating due to unscrupulous lenders. But if the government buys them a house, then by gosh, I want it to buy me a house, too. I've been waiting for years because I couldn't afford it, but you didn't see me signing in the funny pages after a wink and a nod from a sleazy mortgage lender.

Now we're being honest. But are we also being brutalized by the nightly news? At some point, we're going to have to turn our attitudes around. At some point, we're going to have to start focusing on better days ahead. We're going to need to pull our wallets out of the deepest part of our back pocket and pull out a few bucks to spend.

And with those dollars, we're going to buy back our country's economic health. We won't turn this around until we turn our attitudes around.

I'm not trying to be a Pollyanna here, but we are going to have to put it behind us, show some faith in the American economy and start the wheels grinding again. I'm not the greatest believer in our economy. I don't know that we'll ever have the huge lead we used to have over everyone else. Something about the size and buying power of all those people across the Eastern pond makes me think we might just be small potatos. I desperately hope as a people, we have learned a few lessons here and won't be such ridiculous, laughable, spoiled consumers. But just as desperately, I hope we start consuming again.

It would be nice if we could count on the media for help, but to be honest, people in my business aren't going to... not yet. We'll get around to it, but at the moment, we're a bit overwhelmed by all the gloom and doom stories that are coming our direction.

(Trust me on this. I'm a lifelong news junkie but I feel torn every night because I spend the day picking my attitude up and out of the gutter, just so that Charlie, Katie and Brian can kick and trod it under again every evening. I want to filter out the economic stories a couple of nights per week so that I can get a decent night's sleep. Oh, the inhumanity of it all!)

The news will turn it around, but not until every reporter among us has felt like we've gotten a piece of it. And then after we're at saturation, then we'll start looking for the "new angle" and find ourselves grasping for any positive thing that comes along.

So please be patient. But go be patient in the checkout line. Because with spending, even if it's at a store that ends in "mart," some is better than none. And it's just going to have to do until sometime in 2010. At least that's what they say on the news.

"It's the Economy, Stupid!"

So... it IS the economy. Stupid!

Ha! Okay, but enough is enough, right? Lately, it seems we are all caught up in the pain of watching the markets meltdown.

Or at least some of us are. Others are watching what they believe is the meltdown being brought on by the media.

Some folks say this is being made worse by all the negative reporting going on. Television newscasts that nightly run dramatic "Economic Meltdown" banners while sounding the alarm with very serious background music and the newspaper photographers who seem to capture the most unimaginably negative facial expressions plastered on traders faces as the days events transpire. (Seriously, folks, for all we know, the photograph above was taken when someone dropped a cardboard tray containing four Starbucks cups and a donut. "Not the donut! Catch it! Catch it! For the love of Heaven, CATCH IT!!")

Just now as I walked past my television, NBC interrupted afternoon programming once again to give us the news: The NYSE closed down.... again. It lost another 100+ points.

I must admit that after a week in which the American stock market has lost about a quarter of its value, I don't think that the market being "off another 100+ points" is necessarily news.

I've heard one piece of good advice in the last couple of weeks: don't check your funds and accounts daily. Avert your vision to something more positive. I've found that helps.

Last night's local newscast on the Los Angeles ABC affiliate featured interviews with people who lived through the Great Depression. I know they were trying to be helpful. The interviews all said "This isn't nearly as bad as that." But somehow the knowledge that they were bringing these people forward and reminding me of that very difficult time made things seem all the more painful.

It's a difficult time. We all know that. In the coming weeks, we may see even more painful financial times. (I have no idea. I am NOT a financial analyst, nor do I *ever* claim to be one on TV.)

But better days are ahead. The government's rescue program will have effect on the credit markets. Life will improve once again. And then I think we'll all hope that perhaps this moment in time has it's one potentially positive effect: making Americans respect their earnings again.