They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery but I have to tip my hat to a so-called satirical website – the last time I checked satire had to be funny rather than personal attacks on the poor journalists who are trying to do their best – and I have had taken a bit of stick of late from the site, but then I would say that wouldn’t I? Sometimes the criticism is valid but sometimes I feel it misses the point.

Having said that I am taking the fact that his latest parody character of Gordon Norman, which is clearly based on myself, as a back handed compliment. I mean you just have to consider the NUJ tag and his wearing of the Shemagh in some portrayals, better known the desert scarf, the combat jacket, the over abundance of cameras, the aviator shades, the camera bag and the long hair and beard which is more than a nod to myself.

But the AI generated image does not accurately represent a correct portrayal of a modern journalist as the reporter would normally be equipped with no cameras as they would be sent to the scene equipped with just their mobile phone, which in fairness will return decent images for the papers as well as the various websites, as well as the ability to record sound interviews as well as video footage.

I have known the guy behind the blog since I started my first job in journalism way back in 1992, he was a cub reporter and I was trainee photographer on the North West Evening Mail, and we have both carved out our careers in journalism over the subsequent years – he dabbled in the murky dark side of PR before returning to proper journalism and I eventually retrained as a reporter – but still kept my hand in by shooting pics for the articles that interested me and I have to admit it was nice to be able to choose my photographic assignments.

Having said that he did become disillusioned by how the industry had changed over the years and what its demands now were and unexpectedly left his last job with no real plan in place. I made the same move in 2023 when I was working in Inverness and ended up in Carlisle as the local democracy reporter in north and west Cumbria and I have no regrets over that move.

But this got me thinking about how the industry has changed since I started out in the early 1990s because the business model has changed completely. Again for the record it is no secret that print circulations are falling and the major newspaper groups are moving into a digital strategy with the emphasis on the websites. I mean that makes sense as the cost of newsprint is getting expensive combined with lower sales.

People access their news differently than they did in the early 1990s and it is fair to say that is via various online sources, whether that be trusted newspaper websites or social media.

I have always said the traditional newspapers missed a trick by initially putting everything out there for free which is why they are finding it difficult to monetise content because people got used to free access so they have to rely of online advertising.

Let’s just say we are no longer in Kansas, or rather it is no longer the early 1990s, and things have changed so we must adapt and move forward and not stay locked in the past rather than bitterly looking back on past glories.