That Pat, what a hoot. Yesterday he told journalists in Greensboro that the state needs fewer … journalists.
The Triad Business Journal has the scoop.
The gov’s presentation, also attended by business people, launched his workforce development plan. How word of this plan would be disseminated without journalists, McCrory did not say.
We need more truck drivers, HVAC workers and information technology, McCrory said.
A lot of newspapers and magazines, by the way, are delivered by truck. The INDY, for example, is printed in Fayetteville—by the Fayetteville Observer, which is full of journalists—and trucked up to Raleigh and Durham.
Media offices need heat and air conditioning—and information technologists to keep the Interwebs functioning.
So see, Pat, between filing open records requests that your office doesn’t fill, asking you questions that you refuse to answer (what did you do for Duke Energy again?), following you as you try to avoid us, and analyzing your failed policies—media outlets indirectly employ the very people you say we need more of.
From 2003–2012, nationwide the number of full-time journalism jobs fell by 16,200, according to the Pew Research Center. Journalists who lose their jobs should hope they don’t live in North Carolina, where McCrory signed into law a bill that deeply cut unemployment benefits.
As for the truck driver shortage, Forbes questions whether it really exists. or if it’s just handwringing over government regulations on making our roads and highways safer.
