Amen, Amy Gahran!

I, too, am sickened by layoffs of highly qualified journalists when it's clear -- crystal clear -- that many news organizations actually could afford to boost their editorial ranks if only they had a better handle on technology.

Gahran is absolutely correct that many news companies are losing out on big bucks because they haven't built -- or bought -- the systems that would allow them to make the most of online ad sales.

(Side note: I also have ranted this year about how newsroom leaders just about everywhere should wake up and understand how awful their news organization's content-management tools are. One reason so many news orgs have less-than-inspiring Web sites is because they have cruddy, cruddy, cruddy tools with which to build and maintain them. It's really not much of an exaggeration to write that you could build a more sophisticated news Web site using the tech you have in your house. Let's just say that the sophomoric approach to Web site-building isn't going to help even the nation's oldest and most respected news organizations survive.)

And I just loved Gahran's kicker: "Many, if not most, journalists are disinterested in or disdainful of the ad side of the business and so might wonder why I'll be covering it. I figure a paycheck can help anyone be a better journalist. How's that for relevance?"

You tell 'em, sister.

While I believe sponsorships and targeted ad sales can go too far, I also believe journalists need to study the business of our business and tech trends before they bash new approaches to ad placement. For some reason, people freak out about ads from a dry cleaner showing up online next to stories about clothing. Where were these same journalists when their newspaper released a special section -- or even a regularly themed features section -- filled with ads that jived with the content? That has been going on for years ...

If journalists truly want to fight for good journalism, the answer isn't always going to be to write a better story or air a more compelling newscast. Sometimes, we're going to have to speak up about the bad business decisions that are affecting our ability to perform an incredibly important public service. We take other companies to task for their missteps. We pick them apart for their failures. Perhaps it's time for more of us to band together and start asking much tougher questions of the "business folks" who run the companies we work for.

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Thanks, Christine. I'll definitely be writing more about this on Poynter's E-Media Tidbits and my own blog, Contentious.com

- Amy Gahran