Also in that article, the writer makes the comment: "In journalism since the mid-ninetheenth century, barriers to entry have been high." I just don't see that. Nearly every town in this country has a weekly newspaper. Weekly newspapers are always looking for stringers (if they have a budget). You need to be able to do very few things to become a stringer: 1. Be able to write. 2. Know the basic journalism form (the inverted pyramid style). 3. Not be crazy, at least outwardly so. That's really it. Whether you move up in the field, well that depends on your abilities, but becoming a journalist is not so hard. If there are barriers, they're pretty low.