(This post focuses on my personal life and my prospective future. I rarely write about more serious topics, so I’m a little nervous to post this. No delicious recipes today, and only a few measly comics; sorry, folks! It’s lengthy, so feel free to skip down to the article titled “The Future of Food Journalism”. It’s a good one—don’t miss it!)
In the end, I want to be a Food Journalist.
I’m currently pursuing dual degrees in Public Affairs Journalism and Nutrition in Industry at Ohio State in hopes of, one day, becoming a food writer.
Be it Food and Wine Magazine, Cooking Light, Bon Appetit, Cook’s Illustrated, Eating Well, or any one of the numerous food sources I frequent,
I know want to be a part of this profession.
The thought of working behind some of these productions is extremely enticing. You are given the opportunity to develop and test recipes, share your dearest family kitchen memories with loyal readers, travel to experience new cuisines and cultures, and, of course, eat. (Oh, the delicious food!)
It is an extremely open field in terms of personal creativity.
While many writers are assigned specific topics to cover in an article, they have the freedom to tell their story in the manner they choose.
Sounds like a dream job, huh?
If only it were that easy.
I’m constantly worrying about job prospects in the future,
as are many journalists of this generation. Print is diminishing as technology—the source of hyper-speed information at a next-to-nothing cost—booms tremendously.
Even Media Journalists are put on edge in their profession.
Take a look at the recent (January 2012!) internet strike concerning several large websites in opposition to “SOPA” (Stop Online Piracy Act) and “PIPA” (Protect IP Act), two proposed laws that would curb web freedom in America by the government.
WordPress.com (my host site) was on a brief blackout, along with sites such as Google.
The strike ended in a short sweep, but what if it would have continued?
Several Media Journalists would be franticly searching for a back-up plan.
The case only worsens with print journalism.
In 2009, Gourmet Magazine was abruptly put to an end.
Conde Nast, the owner of Gourmet, halted this classical American piece with little forewarning after 41 strong years in print.
This time, 180 Gourmet team members were left without work.
The odds seem to favor the Engineers in this day and age.
The computer techs, the science geeks, the doctors, the economists.
Anything but creatively-challenging occupations: the artists, musicians, writers, chefs, and foodies.
At times, this is incredibly discouraging.
Job security is one of the fundamental goals of, well, most everyone in times of recession and resulting unemployment.
But there is more to living than having a future secured job and financial security.
When it’s all said and done, you have to pursue what you love.
If you love Chemistry and can solve Calculus equations in your sleep, then by all means, you become the Engineer you were meant to be.
But me?
I love to write. I love to explore foods and relating cultures. And I want to be a Food Journalist.
Maybe that doesn’t grant me the financial safety net for the future, but I’ve never had a stronger urge to make something out of my interests, my talents in food writing.
My doubts subside when I figure that anybody really can achieve anything.
It does take a knowledge, passion, and an ungodly number of meaningful connections (“It’s not what you know, but who you know!” Right, Dad?), but it is an attainable goal.
I regularly look to the food blog world for encouragement, such as Dianne Jacob’s Blog “Will Write for Food” and to some of my favorite books such as “Best Food Writing of 2011” to ease my hopelessly worried mind about the future.
Just today, I think I found my greatest source of inspiration to date:
an article titled “The Future of Food Journalism” by Zoe Singer.
Ironically, it is posted on a website titled The Faster Times.
Singer is blatantly honest in some points:
”Will the internet, with its attention-span-shortening sensory overload and endless free content, change how we enjoy food writing forever? Is 500 words the new 20,000? Or will magazines, like the gorgeously yet economically and environmentally-produced Edibles, soldier on as a respite from the noise online? Will the same urges that send us to the web to find recipes or obsessively follow restaurant world gossip also keep us loyal to magazines we can hold, take with us out of internet range, read in the tub, display on a coffee table and save on a bookshelf? Or will the vestigial habit of reading off-screen fade in a generation?”
Followed by her closing paragraphs, which made me fall in complete and udder love with her:
Either way, the encouraging fact remains that our gluttonous society is hungrier than ever for food news, recipes, information, inspiration, legislation… This is a thrilling time to read and write about food—and if you are interested in either activity, you’ve got plenty of company. What emerged from the panel for me is the sense that market forces will stabilize the field of food writing…eventually. Writers who have the backing—be that a trust fund, an employer, a wildly successful ad-supported blog or even just a day job and a lot of drive—will continue to create well-written, well-researched and well-tested or fact-checked food content, even without the benefit of extensive editorial and art departments. And the humbling gods of internet traffic will give and take away accordingly.
Whoever is left food writing when the dust settles will once again have a shot at making a living doing whatever food journalism becomes in The Future. Personally, I hope to see less ‘this is what you should eat right where you live right this minute,’ less ‘this is why everything you eat will kill you’ and more ‘this is how food culture makes our world a larger, more beautiful place.’ The real question though is not so much what The Future of Food Journalism will look like as when that future will arrive. Some of us would really like to know.
You can read the rest of Zoe Singer’s article Here.
Food Journalism isn’t dying, I realized.
(And neither is my future).
It’s merely a changing occupation.
Adjusting with the times, adapting to new trends and tastes,
The twist and turns that every field naturally accepts as time elapses.
It remains a respectable profession, and maybe it can even claim to be a growing profession, according to Singer’s approach.
Merely subsisting or substantially booming, Food Journalism is what I’m here to do.
It’s what I love to do, and it’s who I am.
Sometimes, it just takes a little reminder, such as Singer’s article, to get us refocused, re-inspired, and ready to take on the next day.
No “Questions of the Day” per say,
But I’d love to hear any of your thoughts or questions on this post!
Where do you find your inspiration in times of discouragement?
(And if you haven’t yet discovered Tasting Table online publication, check it out!
It’s a new find for me, and I’m already smitten.
Maybe if the rest of the food journalism in print fades, I’ll join the Tasting Table team! 
)
