This is opportunity?

Why do I not take comfort in this?

From a story in the Lansing State Journal about the optimism among young journalism majors about the future of journalism:

In fact, some say veteran journalists' woes may spell opportunity for young applicants. After buying out tenured staffers, papers can hire younger applicants for less, said Arlene Morgan, associate dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Later in the same story:

Those who do snag a position won't be paying off their school loans anytime soon. The median starting salary for applicants with a bachelor's degree is $26,000 at dailies, according to the Cox survey. At weeklies, it's less.

Does anyone see anything wrong with that picture?

The story notes that the director of Michigan State's journalism school said the number of journalism majors had climbed to nearly 700. That's impressive given that MSU does not combine its journalism and ad-PR programs.

Still, as an industry, we can do better. While we may have a lot of young eager folks coming through the door, if we don't pay them and provide better working conditions, we are going to have a lot of bitter 30-somethings armed wtih their own Web sites, blogs and whatever -- hardly a recipe for success for the "existing" media.