The Media Drop

First it was the stock pages disappearing from a number of major newspapers, a small glimpse into what was to come. Now, as Chris Thilk was so kind to forward along to me, Editor & Publisher is reporting that the Chicago Tribune has chosen to remove its help wanted ads from weekday papers.

I think the comments from the newspaper’s spokesperson are quite interesting, especially the note that the paper, along with the industry as a whole, grasped the fact that they “face the same challenges with shifts in help wanted advertising, and we are taking the lead on reinventing the way we present our job listings.”

I’m sorry to be catty about this, but it’s about damn time. Go around your office and ask 10 people when the last time they got a job from the Help Wanted section was. Go to your friends and family outside of your office, and try it there, too. That being said, I do have a concern about the haves and have nots aspect of this. Not everyone searches for jobs online, and not everyone has easy access to a computer. Sure, employment offices (or are they unemployment offices…hmmm) are typically very wired up for this sort of thing, but not everyone is rolling around with an iPhone or laptop that they can just hop onto. Those same people, however, would most likely be able to pick up a newspaper on the corner for the change in their pocket. Are they being booted out of the equation here?