How reporters might make a living

We're all stumbling towards an understanding - or even a faint glimmer of a clue - as to how journalists might make a living in the credit crunch / multimedia world.

Here's a well-founded idea from The Sacramento Bee that envisages reporters operating rather as local picture agencies have for years:

"A network of local community reporters - including some with non-traditional training - could provide coverage of all the region's cities and counties for any number of newspapers, radio stations and TV. The outlets would have to pay a fee for the journalists' service, but much less than it would cost to field their own newsrooms. A journalist who negotiates the right contracts with enough outlets could make a decent living."