Further to my post re Timothy Egan below, Mark Pinsky over at The New Republic says that, what with all the newspaper lay-offs, it’s time for a new Federal Writers Project:

Today, there are many dislocated “old media” journalists from newspapers, radio, and television on the street–here I declare my personal interest, as one of them–who could provide a skilled pool to staff a new FWP…
This time, the FWP could begin by documenting the ground-level impact of the Great Recession; chronicling the transition to a green economy; or capturing the experiences of the thousands of immigrants who are changing the American complexion…
Like Detroit’s troubled Big Three automakers, federal intervention to save the newspaper and magazine industries are highly problematic, at best. Ink-on-paper periodicals are never coming back, and it may be some time before the web can provide well-paying jobs with health benefits–if it ever will. Until then, providing some way to provide young journalists a way to get started, or displaced media workers a way to transition to new occupations, or to retirement, might help–and serve the nation in the process.

But what about the legions of American satirists about to be laid off because fellows like Pinsky are writing stuff like this for real?