Journalists are a tough breed. They put up with a lot, and the worst part of it right now is that (unless they are media critics) that they have to write about every other industry but their own that’s going through a huge upheaval. “Newspapers are still far from dead, but the language of the obituary is creeping in,” said the 2008 ‘State of the News Media Report‘ at Journalism.org.

The story of Chris Page, a Mesa journalist and theater critic is a sad obituary on the profession. He was found dead. He had recently moved from the beat of art critic to online journalism, but was recently laid off, said his former employer, the East Valley Tribune.

Online journalism, apart from media itself, is in the thoes of change and reinvention. Newsrooms are being rejiggered overnight with the impact of ‘networked journalism,’ interactive media, and the inroads into news distribution from new technologies.

But the fact remains: we still need boots on the ground, and smart people who cover the story be it about culture, economics, sports, or politics with more depth, not less. Society infatuated by Google search results and “measurement” doesn’t place enough value on these boots and these beats that feed our newsreaders and our online ‘papers.’ Dedicated, award winning professionals like Chris will be surely missed.