NPF Awards 2009: Celebratory Funeral

In case you haven’t heard: newspapers are dying… people are getting fired… laid off… buyouts are the new bonus.

If for any reason attendees at the 26th Annual NPF Awards had forgotten about the dismal state of their industry, there were plenty of speakers on hand to remind them.

While guests dined on roasted chicken, they were given a heavy helping of “sad” from nearly everyone that took the stage to accept, present and even MC the event. Len Downie Jr. praised the Graham family for an investment that has enabled WaPo to brave the tough economic times. Charles Gibson pondered how newspapers could profit from their websites so that news wasn’t given away.

Though unlike an Irish wake, booze was limited. Only two bottles of wine (one white one red) were provided per table.

Cartoonist honorary Nate Beeler and CQ’s Jonathan Allen seemed to be the lone soldiers in the war for a lighter mood. Golf claps to them for not mentioning the terrible state of the news business… did we mention that the news business is in a terrible state?

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